The fast integration of artificial intelligence into social media marketing has triggered the emergence of AI-generated influencers. Despite the growing commercial acceptance of this advertising modality, empirical understanding of how consumers react when the artificial nature of such influencers is explicitly disclosed remains limited, particularly in emerging market contexts. This qualitative study addresses that gap by exploring how young Ghanaian consumers form trust in disclosed AI-generated influencer advertising on social media, and the implications of such advertising for consumer attitudes and purchase intentions. Anchored in an interpretivist paradigm, the study employed semi-structured, in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of 20 young social media users in Ghana.

Findings reveal that trust formation in disclosed AI influencer advertising is governed by a hierarchy of conditions: content quality and informational relevance, upfront transparency of AI status, AI literacy as a non-linear moderating variable, and prior brand relationship as the strongest structural anchor. A theoretically significant attitude–purchase intention paradox was documented, wherein negative general attitudes toward AI advertising coexisted with conditional purchase willingness when prior product interest was high—directly challenging the linear pathway assumed by the Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). Ghanaian cultural dynamics functioned as constitutive boundary conditions that amplified trust penalties beyond levels predicted by Western frameworks. The study contributes contextually grounded theoretical extensions to Parasocial Interaction (PSI) Theory, the Source Credibility Model, and the Technology Acceptance Model, while offering actionable guidance for marketing practitioners, regulators, and future researchers operating in Sub-Saharan African digital markets.