GenAI and Consumer Research: Are We the Last Generation of Human Consumer Researchers?

Abstract Explorations of Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) have moved to the forefront of consumer research, as scholars examine its implications for ideation and conceptualization, data collection and analysis, and writing and publishing. Introducing this special section of the Journal of Consumer Research on GenAI and consumer research, the author calls for a critical—and self-critical—engagement with GenAI, calling on researchers to embrace its potential while remaining mindful of both its constraints and their own biases. The author concludes that, given GenAI’s rapid evolution, the insights in this special section remain provisional and may require reconsideration as the technology advances.