Consumers' Preference for Human-Generated Versus AI-Generated Artwork: A Social Identification Account

Abstract

As generative artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly prevalent in the creative industries, firms are adopting AI to produce artwork. Drawing on social identity theory, this work investigates how consumers respond to AI-generated versus human-generated artwork. Across one field study and three lab experiments, we find that consumers consistently prefer human-generated artwork. In addition, we show that this effect is driven by consumers' reduced empathy with the AI generator, which in turn weakens their identification with the AI generator and lowers preference for AI-generated artwork. Importantly, we identify two interventions that mitigate this effect: increasing consumers' perceived similarity to AI, and framing AI developers as in-group members. These findings reveal that while consumers tend to devalue AI-generated artwork, strategic cues can foster connection and improve acceptance. This research contributes to the emerging literature on the mechanism of consumers' reactions to AI and offers actionable insights for marketers aiming to integrate AI into artistic domains.