74% of respondents believe brands and creators have a duty to disclose when AI is used in advertising and marketing campaigns.
The growing use of AI in advertising appears to carry a risk to brand trust, raising concerns for auto retail as more dealerships lean into artificial intelligence to help drive sales.
The details: A recent report by research company Cint, titled The Authenticity Audit: AI, Advertising, and the New Rules of Consumer Trust, reveals a growing disconnect between the adoption of AI in advertising and consumer comfort with its use to promote products and services.
The Cint findings, based on a survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers, are particularly relevant to automotive retail as more automakers and dealerships adopt AI to create more cost-efficient advertising and marketing campaigns.
From the respondents:
Digging deeper: Consumer concerns about AI-generated ads extend beyond the technology itself, with many respondents expressing reservations about the types of content created by artificial intelligence.
Why it matters: As dealerships increasingly use AI to create advertising and marketing content, balancing the efficiency of AI-generated campaigns with transparency and authenticity could become increasingly important to attract buyers and maintain credibility for dealers.
Case in point…
What they’re saying: “AI is creating tremendous opportunities for advertisers, but hand-in-hand with the ability to produce content faster and at greater scale comes the potential risk of alienating consumers," said Ariel Madway, Director of Brand Experience at Cint. “Our research shows that consumers are paying close attention to how brands use AI, and transparency plays an important role in maintaining their trust.”
Kerrigan Advisors is the leading sell-side advisor and thought partner to auto dealers nationwide. Since its founding in 2014, the firm has led the industry with the sale of over 450 franchises generating more than $11 billion in client proceeds, including three of the largest transactions in auto retail history – the sale of Jim Koons Automotive Companies to Asbury Automotive Group, Leith Automotive to Holman, and Hennessy Automotive Companies to Group 1 Automotive. The firm advises the industry’s leading dealership groups, enhancing value through the lifecycle of growing, operating and, when the time is right, selling their businesses. Led by a team of veteran industry experts with backgrounds in investment banking, private equity, accounting, finance and real estate, Kerrigan Advisors is the only firm in auto retail exclusively dedicated to sell-side advisory, providing its clients with the assurance of a conflict-free approach.
Kerrigan Advisors monitors conditions in the buy/sell market and publishes an in-depth analysis each quarter in The Blue Sky Report®, which includes Kerrigan Advisors’ signature blue sky charts, multiples and analysis for each franchise in the luxury and non-luxury segments. To download a preview of the report, click here. The firm also releases monthly The Kerrigan Index™ composed of the seven publicly traded auto retail companies with operations focused on the US market. The Kerrigan Auto Retail Index is designed to track dealership valuation trends, while also providing key insights into factors influencing auto retail. To read the 2025 Kerrigan Dealer Survey, click here. To read the 2026 Kerrigan OEM Survey, click here. Kerrigan Advisors is also the co-author of NADA’s Guide to Buying and Selling a Dealership. Additionally, Kerrigan Advisors publishes a podcast, Beyond Blue Sky – A Kerrigan Conversation, where Kerrigan Advisors’ clients and industry leaders share the mindset, strategy and personal stories behind a once-in-a-generation transaction.
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