Abstract
Acknowledging the lack of empirical research on the adoption of AI in B2B marketing and the research gap in studying power from a network perspective, this paper explores how the drivers of AI adoption as marketing solutions affect network actors' power dynamics. Using data collected through 20 semi-structured interviews with business managers and engineers involved in AI adoption for B2B marketing activities, as well as academic experts in the field of AI, this paper discusses how AI adoption priorities and motives shape the power dynamics amongst the various network actors, including focal firms, AI suppliers and tech giant companies. The findings show that, in the context of AI adoption in B2B, both technology and expertise are key sources of power, and that data creates and perpetuates power negotiations and renegotiations in the network. We envisage this process as the movements on a busy dancefloor where groups of actors are engaged in what we refer to as the Power Tango. This paper contributes to the power dependence theory by showing that, through the adoption process, network actors' power is exchanged, exercised, counter-balanced and perpetuated, creating fluid network dynamics.
Highlights
The tango is a direct expression of something that poets have often tried to state in words: the belief that a fight may be a celebration. (Jorge Luis Borges).This article uses the metaphor of a bustling tango dancefloor to represent the power exchanges between focal firms and different types of suppliers when adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI) marketing solu tions
Focal firms motivations for power Consistent with the existing literature (e.g., Davenport et al, 2020), our interviewees reported that focal firms adopt AI solutions that automate marketing processes with a view to standardising processes, improving efficiencies, and reducing staff costs: “We hope to automate everything, switch on the AI marketing machine and, we won’t need any marketers” (P10)
Our study examined the role of power dependancies within AI adoption in B2B marketing
Summary
This article uses the metaphor of a bustling tango dancefloor to represent the power exchanges between focal firms and different types of suppliers when adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI) marketing solu tions. B2B firms that have not developed the required knowledge or expertise in-house need to rely on AI suppliers to help them deliver better customer service. They need to increase competitive advantage (Dwivedi, Hughes, et al, 2021; Dwivedi, Ismagilova, et al, 2021; Weigel & Hadwich, 2018), thereby creating a new power dynamic
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