Can AI fully replace human designers? Matching effects between declared creator types and advertising appeals on tourists’ visit intentions

Artificial intelligence (AI) offers digital tools that advertisers can use to create ads and automate various advertising processes. It has reorganized and upgraded traditional advertising and specifically improved advertising efficiency for tourist destinations. Adopting the computers-are-social-actors paradigm and spreading–activation theory, this study examined how the relationship between declared creator types (AI vs. human) and advertising appeals (rational vs. emotional) affects individuals' visit intentions. Three scenario-based experiments were conducted. They revealed that advertisements with rational appeals improved visit intention for AI-generated ads more effectively. In contrast, those with emotional appeals were more attractive when the declared creator was human. This effect was mediated by information processing fluency. The results also confirmed the moderating role of tourists’ involvement in these relationships. This research expands the range of applications of AI-generated content in advertising and can inform practical marketing strategies for tourist destinations.