The AI-Augmented Marketer: Strategy, Creativity, and Ethics in the Age of Automation

 Dear Colleagues,

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping marketing as a strategic organisational function, transforming how decisions are made, value is created, and ethical responsibility is managed. From predictive analytics and algorithmic targeting to generative content creation and automated customer engagement, marketing practice is increasingly characterised by human–AI collaboration. Yet, while AI adoption promises efficiency, personalisation, and scalability, it also raises profound questions concerning creativity, accountability, transparency, and trust. This Special Issue, The AI-Augmented Marketer: Strategy, Creativity, and Ethics in the Age of Automation, seeks to advance interdisciplinary understanding of these transformations.

Focus, scope, and purpose
The primary focus of this Special Issue is on AI as a strategic enabler and disruptor of contemporary marketing. Its scope encompasses organisational, managerial, and societal perspectives on AI-augmented marketing strategy, creative processes, and ethical governance (Davenport et al., 2020). The purpose is threefold: (a) to examine how AI reshapes marketing strategy and decision-making across organisational levels, (b) to explore the evolving nature of creativity and human–machine collaboration in marketing practice, and (c) to critically interrogate the ethical, regulatory, and societal implications of AI-driven marketing systems. For example, recent research (Amin et al., 2025) highlights how AI adoption enhances strategic customer engagement while simultaneously surfacing ethical challenges in fairness and transparency in marketing contexts.

Relationship to existing literature

While existing research (Haenlein and Kaplan, 2019; Amin et al., 2025; Hardcastle et al., 2025) has extensively examined digital transformation and marketing automation, much of the scholarship remains fragmented across disciplines or focused on technological capabilities rather than strategic and ethical consequences. This Special Issue supplements and extends prior work by integrating strategic management, marketing, and ethical perspectives. It builds on recent findings that emphasise the importance of ethical frameworks in AI marketing implementation (Hari et al., 2025) and the transformative potential of AI-driven personalisation and creativity (Hardcastle et al., 2025). By focusing predominantly on creativity and ethics alongside performance and efficiency, the Special Issue responds to growing calls for responsible, transparent, and human-centred approaches to AI adoption in organisations.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 300–500 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the guest editors on ebolat@bournemouth.ac.uk or to /Administrative Sciences/ editorial office (admsci@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.

References

Amin, M. R. M., Asbi, A., Sivakumaran, V. M., Kim, J., & Septiarini, E. (2025). Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption in marketing strategies: Navigating the present and shaping the future business landscape. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 12, 102048.

Davenport, T., Guha, A., Grewal, D., & Bressgott, T. (2020). How artificial intelligence will change the future of marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 48(1), 24-42.

Haenlein, M., & Kaplan, A. (2019). A brief history of artificial intelligence: On the past, present, and future of artificial intelligence. California management review, 61(4), 5-14.

Hardcastle, K., Vorster, L., & Brown, D. M. (2025). Understanding customer responses to AI-driven personalized journeys: Impacts on the customer experience. Journal of Advertising, 54(2), 176–195. 

Hari, H., Sharma, A., Verma, S., & Chaturvedi, R. (2025). Exploring ethical frontiers of artificial intelligence in marketing. Journal of Responsible Technology, 21, 100103.

Dr. Elvira Bolat
Dr. Shiva Ilkhanizadeh
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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