Deepfake aversion: The negative impact of deepfake advertising on brand and celebrity attitudes.

Brands today have started incorporating deepfake technology into their advertisements, replacing the face of individuals with those of celebrities. Despite key advantages in using deepfake advertising, the present research documents a downside, which we term deepfake aversion. Five experiments (N = 1,903) documented deepfake aversion: consumers hold less favorable attitudes toward both brands and celebrities featured in deepfake (vs. control) ads, an effect driven by reduced perceived brand authenticity. Deepfake aversion cannot be explained by reduced celebrity authenticity as an alternative mechanism, and it persists irrespective of the terminology used to describe it and celebrity consent to use their image liking. However, disclosure of deepfake usage reduced the negative impact of deepfakes on attitudes toward the celebrity but not toward the brand. De-aging deepfakes (in which the celebrity is made to look younger) also yielded weaker deepfake aversion, indicating that some deepfake variants may be more palatable to consumers. We consider policy implications and make recommendations for how best to regulate the use of deepfake technology in advertising.