Language as Means and Ends: How Generative Artificial Intelligence Automates, Amplifies, and Reinvents Language in Marketing

Martin Reimann and Ann Kronrod

Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2026, vol. 11, issue 2, 227 - 234

Abstract: Is language a means or an end in marketing? In other words, is it merely a tool to achieve certain goals, or is language itself part of what creates value for consumers and firms? These questions become newly urgent in the age of generative artificial intelligence (AI), especially the age of large language models. Drawing from interviews with senior marketing professionals across diverse industries, this industry-perspectives article adopts a translational approach. We surface how practitioners conceptualize the role of language in their day-to-day work and carry those insights back into the academic discourse. We further identify two recurring perspectives—language as a strategic tool (means) and language as a value generator in itself (ends)—and examine how generative AI bridges these two perspectives. To that end, we develop a conceptual framework and propositions organized around three AI-enabled functions—automation, amplification, and reinvention—and map each function onto the means–ends distinction.

Date: 2026
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