Examining Consumer Appraisals of Deepfake Advertising and Disclosure: Show Deepfakes as “Real Life” or Say They’re “Just Fantasy”?

Deepfakes are a controversial and emerging AI-facilitated advertising tool warranting
empirical exploration. This research explores the phenomenon of deepfake advertising,
and how deepfake quality, disclosure presence, and disclosure characteristics are
appraised by consumers to influence advertising outcomes. Across three experimental
studies utilizing deepfake advertisements, this research reveals that high-quality
deepfake advertisements are appraised similarly to their original counterparts. Highquality,
disclosed deepfakes trigger an emotion-value appraisal process which explains
consumer responses and subsequent advertising outcomes. Disclosure presence and
timing influence this process and can enhance or hinder advertising effectiveness.