Communicating cleaner production: When AI or human creativity enables more effective green advertising

Effective communication of cleaner production practices is essential for encouraging sustainable consumption and supporting the transition to environmentally responsible markets. As generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini become widely used in marketing, it remains unclear whether they can communicate sustainability-related product information as effectively as human professionals, particularly in green advertising where ethical, emotional, and social meanings are central. Drawing on processing fluency theory, this study examines when generative AI outperforms human professionals in green advertising and when humans maintain the advantage. Based on two large-scale experiments with a total of 5754 consumers in Japan, analysis shows that the effectiveness of AI versus human-designed green ads depends on product features (utilitarian vs. hedonic, price), ad characteristics (platform type, ad length, hidden negatives), and consumer values (green involvement). AI outperforms in low-involvement contexts, while human creators excel in emotionally and ethically complex situations. These findings demonstrate how organizations can strategically combine AI and human creativity to strengthen consumers’ perceptions of environmentally sustainable products and support cleaner production objectives.