Date of Award

2021

Document Type

Dissertation - Rollins Access Only

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

Advisor(s)

Dr. James P. Johnson

Second Advisor

Dr. Ginger Killian

Keywords

artificial intelligence, digital content marketing, deepfake, synthetic media, video source credibility, trustworthiness, expertise, physical attractiveness, social cynicism

Abstract

Artificial-intelligence driven technology has rapidly advanced to such a degree that global marketers are able to create seemingly real, multilingual media content featuring humans that is completely synthetic. Humans recreated on video using artificial intelligence can easily deceive consumers but disclosing the use of the potentially deceptive technology may induce negative consumer attitudes and behaviors. In a posttest only control group experimental design (n=318), this study offers the first empirical evidence to assess the use of synthetic video, or “deepfakes,” in digital content marketing and is one of few synthetic video empirical studies in the social sciences generally. Participants in the United States and India viewed a human reenactment synthetic video and then reported perceptions of Trustworthiness, Expertise, Physical Attractiveness, Purchase Intention, and Social Cynicism. Participants were randomly assigned to a condition either with or without a Disclosure of the use of synthetic video. Using PLS-SEM analysis, findings indicate that Disclosure of synthetic video negatively impacted Purchase Intention and perceptions of perceived source Trustworthiness.

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