International Journal of Research in Marketing

100%

International Journal of Research in Marketing

Full length article

The power of generative marketing: Can generative AI create superhuman visual marketing content?

ABSTRACT

Generative AI's capacity to create photorealistic images has the potential to augment human creativity and disrupt the economics of visual marketing content production. This research systematically compares the performance of AI-generated to human-made marketing images across important marketing dimensions. First, we prompt seven state-of-the-art generative text-to-image models (DALL-E three, Midjourney v six, Firefly two, Imagen two, Imagine, Stable Diffusion XL Turbo, and Realistic Vision) to create ten thousand three hundred twenty synthetic marketing images, using two thousand four hundred real-world, human-made images as input. Two hundred fifty-four thousand four hundred human evaluations of these images show that AI-generated marketing imagery can surpass human-made images in quality, realism, and aesthetics. Second, we give identical creative briefings to commissioned human freelancers and the AI models, showing that the best synthetic images also excel in ad creativity, ad attitudes, and prompt following. Third, a field study with more than one hundred seventy-three thousand impressions demonstrates that AI-generated banner ads can compete with professional human-made stock photography, achieving an up to fifty percent higher click-through rate than a human-made image. Collectively, our findings suggest that the paradigm shift brought about by generative AI can help advertisers produce marketing content not only faster and orders of magnitude cheaper but also at superhuman effectiveness levels with important implications for firms, consumers, and policymakers. To facilitate future research on AI-generated marketing imagery, we release GenImageNet that contains all of our synthetic images and their human ratings.

One. Introduction

Two. Related literature

Two point two. Generative AI-enabled productivity gains and cost savings

Two point three. Consumer response to AI-generated content

Three. Overview of studies

Four. Study one: Perception of AI-generated versus human-made marketing imagery

Four point one. Method

Four point two. Results

Four point three. Discussion

Five. Study two: Generative AI versus human freelancers

Five point one. Method

Five point two. Results

Five point three. Quantifying generative AI-enabled cost savings compared to human freelancers

Five point four. Discussion

Six. Study three: The real-world effectiveness of AI-generated banner ads

Six point one. Method

Six point two. Results

Six point three. Quantifying generative AI-enabled cost savings compared to professional stock photos

Six point four. Discussion

Seven. General Discussion

Seven point two. Contribution and Implications

Seven point three. Limitations and future research directions

Overview

The research systematically evaluates AI-generated images against human-made marketing content, revealing that AI can exceed human quality and effectiveness in various marketing metrics, including click-through rates. The findings highlight the transformative impact of generative AI on visual marketing processes.

Key Points

1Generative AI can create visual marketing content that surpasses human quality and aesthetics
2AI-generated images achieved significantly higher click-through rates compared to human-made images
3DALL-E three emerged as the most effective AI model for generating marketing visuals
4The economic implications suggest substantial cost savings for firms adopting AI in marketing content production
5The study released GenImageNet to facilitate further research on AI-generated marketing imagery.

Details

Authors: Jochen Hartmann, Yannick Exner, Samuel Domdey
Category: Business and Finance

PDF
Marketing in Hospitality and Tourism: Creating Value through Experiences
This document explores the principles of marketing specifically within the hospitality and tourism sectors, focusing on how to create, communicate, and deliver value to customers. It discusses core marketing concepts, consumer behavior, and the specific marketing mix elements that are particularly relevant in these industries.
PDF
Marketing in Tourism and Hospitality
This document offers a comprehensive overview of marketing principles, focusing on how they apply specifically to the tourism and hospitality industries. It covers core concepts such as the marketing mix, consumer behavior, and the unique features of marketing in these sectors.
PDF
Master in Innovation and Business
This document presents a capstone project aimed at addressing the systemic challenges facing smallholder coffee farmers in the Philippines. By analyzing behavioral and system design barriers, it proposes a framework to enhance productivity and quality in the coffee industry.
PDF
Who Shapes the Visitor Experience?
This document discusses the roles and interactions of various stakeholders in shaping the visitor experience in tourism, emphasizing the importance of coordination between international organizations, national agencies, and local tourism offices.
PDF
The Relationship of Tourism and Hospitality
This document explores the interdependent relationship between tourism and hospitality, detailing the components that form a cohesive visitor experience, including food and beverage, accommodation, leisure and recreation, and tourism services.