The Role of Generative AI in Shaping Millennials and Gen Z’s Orientation Toward Luxury Products

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated promotional content and status motivations on the perception of luxury brands among Millennials and Generation Z. The author adopts a mixed-method research approach that integrates a quantitative survey and structural equation modeling analysis with qualitative Natural Language Processing (NLP). The findings reveal that generative AI promotional content impacts millennials and Gen Z’s purchase intention due to its perceived entertainment, transparency, and usefulness. Status motivations had a stronger impact on purchase intention, and demographic characteristics were significantly different in their results. The study is the first to examine the human characteristics of perceived expertise, transparency, and entertainment in an AI context in light of status consumption motivation. As AI is expected to have more human-like characteristics and behavior, testing theories centered on human influence in an AI context is crucial for marketing theory and practice.