What If ChatGPT Wrote It? A Research On Consumers Perception

This research thesis can be divided in two parts, the first part (chapter 1, chapter 2 and chapter 3) focuses on the literature, while the second part (chapter 4) sees the unravelling of the research, starting from the research question and the methodology, and ending with the research itself and its results. Chapter 1, simply called “Artificial Intelligence”, starts with a series of definitions in order to set the ground for the subsequent chapters. Following, the history of AI is recalled from the 1950s till today, and finally I list the risks and bring real-life examples of the benefits of this technology. Chapter 2, “Artificial Intelligence in Marketing”, starts with a recollection of academic studies concerning AI marketing divided into four subjects (1) technical AI algorithms for solving specific marketing problems, (2) customer’s psychological reactions to AI, (3) effects of AI on jobs and society and (4) managerial and strategic issues related to AI, focusing on the last one in particular (Huang & Rust 2020). Then it shows through reports and case studies how companies are implementing AI in their marketing strategies. The chapter closes considering the benefits and the risks of using AI for marketing reasons and finally how consumers perceive it. Chapter 3 builds the foundations for the research, focusing on one of the most discussed AI tools, ChatGPT. It explains what kind of artificial intelligence it is, referencing also how OpenAI has improved its algorithm over time, but also its pervasive adoption and media coverage. Then I rely on Sohail’s (2023) taxonomy to explain the possible applications of ChatGPT in different fields – medicine, marketing, finance, software engineering, academic writing, education, environmental science, natural language processing and tourism. I focus on how marketers are in fact using it now, explaining the best practices to benefit the most from its use. Lastly, I consider its risks and limitations, like biases, hallucinations, inaccuracies, and ethical dilemmas. The last chapter is dedicated to the research, where I delve into the specific use of ChatGPT for writing copy and the perception of people towards it. To answer the research question « Does the perception of the copy changes when potential customers know that it has been written by ChatGPT? » I chose a well-known brand – IKEA –, rewrote the written content of a post using ChatGPT and surveyed 115 people on their perception of the copy. Even though the sample is not representative of the Italian population aged between 20 and 35, my analysis shows that there are in fact some statistical differences on the perception between those who knew and those who didn’t know that I used an artificial intelligence to write the promotional content.