Artificial Intelligence in Marketing Redefining How Firms Understand and Influence Consumers

Artificial intelligence, Marketing analytics, Consumer behaviour, Personalisation, Predictive marketing, Algorithmic decision-making, Digital marketing strategy

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the marketing discipline, fundamentally reshaping how firms understand, predict, and influence consumer behaviour. Moving beyond traditional data-driven decision-making, AI enables marketers to process vast, unstructured datasets, uncover latent behavioural patterns, and deliver highly personalised interactions at scale. This conceptual paper examines the evolving role of AI in marketing, with particular emphasis on its implications for consumer insight generation, predictive analytics, and behavioural influence mechanisms. Drawing on contemporary marketing and information systems literature, the study synthesises key AI applications—including machine learning, natural language processing, and algorithmic decision systems—and evaluates how these technologies redefine customer segmentation, targeting, and engagement strategies. The paper also critically discusses emerging challenges associated with algorithmic bias, consumer privacy, ethical governance, and the erosion of consumer autonomy. By integrating technological capabilities with marketing theory, this study offers a structured framework for understanding AI’s strategic role in modern marketing practice. The paper contributes to the growing AI-marketing discourse by clarifying conceptual boundaries, identifying research gaps, and outlining future research directions that balance firm performance objectives with responsible and transparent consumer engagement.