The Impact of Artificial Intelligence–Driven Marketing on Financial Performance: Evidence from Emerging Markets

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the current marketing landscape by facilitating a better customer experience, better decision making, and more efficient business. While AI-based marketing technologies have been increasingly deployed in emerging markets, there is limited evidence of their impact on financial performance. In this paper, we investigate the link between AI-based marketing and financial performance, and the mediating role of marketing effectiveness and the moderating role of digital transformation capability. The research design was developed with a structured questionnaire to marketing managers, digital marketing experts and business executives who are working in emerging markets. A total of 412 respondents were interviewed and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to assess all the relationships between the studied variables in the literature. It was found that AI-driven marketing significantly enhances marketing performance and it also increases financial performance. Marketing effectiveness mediated the relationship between AI-driven marketing and financial performance, as the results indicate the top companies are able to achieve better financial performance through strong customer acquisition, retention and campaign efficiency. Digital transformation capabilities were also found to provide a better relationship between AI-driven marketing and financial performance, but technological readiness and organizational flexibility are important. The study contributes to the literature by drawing on the Resource-Based View (RBV), Dynamic Capability Theory (DCT), and Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework to show how AI-driven marketing creates sustainable competitive advantages and value to society as well as finance. What is the outcome and how do you make the most of AI and how it can be used to accelerate digital transformation efforts in an effective way and how do you make sure that the benefits are realized? The study shows that AI-driven marketing is a strategic tool in the context of an organization’s performance and competitiveness in new markets.