AI-Powered Virtual Assistants in Sustainable Marketing: Enhancing Customer Experience Through Innovation Technologies

Dear Colleagues,

AI-powered virtual assistants are taking the customer experience to a brand-new level while aligning with sustainability principles (Bagozzi et al., 2022; Huang and Rust, 2024). Unlike conventional script-based virtual assistants, AI-powered virtual assistants are equipped with sophisticated innovative technologies such as machine learning and natural language processing. This allows them to understand complex and subtle conversations and communicate with customers in a more natural and human-like manner (Adam et al., 2020; Kshetri et al., 2023). The benefits and opportunities from a marketing perspective are numerous. For example, these virtual assistants can help sustainable customer service centers manage individual needs based on instant mood analysis while accessing their data history without making them wait (Luo et al., 2019). Virtual assistants improve customer service attitudes, as they never become tired or sick like humans do, providing 24/7 support (Davenport and Ronanki, 2018). Furthermore, AI can be used to co-create a more sustainable and enhanced customer experience (Fehrenbach et al., 2024).

Despite the opportunities and enthusiasm surrounding the use of artificial intelligence in customer interactions, there are still reservations about its use. Marketing research on artificial intelligence in customer experience has focused on two major areas. One is the study of the adoption of this new technology (Moussawi et al., 2021). The other is understanding how the level of anthropomorphism in virtual assistants affects customer emotions and experience (Calahorra-Candao et al., 2023; Crolic et al., 2022; Liu-Thompkins et al., 2022).

Interactions with virtual assistants add value to the customer experience that is still unexplored in the realm of sustainability (Hoyer et al., 2020; Jenneboer et al., 2022; Longoni and Cian, 2022). To create this experiential value, it is important to consider that, in the interaction with this type of technology, the customer may perceive an invasion of privacy (Hoyer et al., 2020). To offer empathetic AI, the customer needs to share a large volume of past, present, and future data for the algorithm to work with. However, there is still some reluctance to share data online. In this regard, the Marketing Science Institute emphasizes the importance of studying the balance between customer privacy and personalization (MSI, 2024). Academic research on AI in marketing primarily focuses on studying technology acceptance and the effects of the level of anthropomorphism in virtual assistants. However, there are few studies on privacy concerns in interactions with virtual assistants. Likewise, the impact of AI in the customer experience still needs further consideration.

This Special Issue aims to shed light on the diverse potential uses of AI in optimizing the customer experience and sustainable development from a digital marketing standpoint. Therefore, I welcome original research articles and reviews related to the following themes:

• Privacy and personalization in AI-driven customer interactions.
• Virtual assistants and their impact on customer emotions.
• The role of artificial empathy in enhancing the customer experience sustainably.
• AI applications in B2B sales.
• The influence of AI on consumer trust, loyalty, and sustainable consumption.
• The ethical implications of AI in customer interactions for digital marketing.
• AI-enhanced customer journey mapping and e-commerce optimization.
• AI-based personalization: balancing automation and the human touch in B2B and B2C.
• AI and the future of personalized product recommendations.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Referneces:

Adam, M., Wessel, M., and Benlian, A. (2020). AI-based chatbots in customer service and their effects on user compliance. Electronic Markets, 1-19.

Bagozzi, R. P., Brady, M. K., & Huang, M. H. (2022). Ai service and emotion. Journal of Service Research, 25(4), 499-504.

Calahorra-Candao, G., Herrando, C., & Hoyos, M. J. M. D. (2023). Affective interaction with technology: the role of virtual assistants in interactive marketing. In The Palgrave Handbook of Interactive Marketing (pp. 275-298). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Crolic, C., Thomaz, F., Hadi, R., & Stephen, A. T. (2022). Blame the bot: anthropomorphism and anger in customer–chatbot interactions. Journal of Marketing, 86(1), 132-148.

Davenport, T. H., and Ronanki, R. (2018). Artificial intelligence for the real world. Harvard Business Review, 96 (1), 108-116.

Fehrenbach, D., Herrando, C., & Martín-De Hoyos, M. J. (2024). Co-Creation with AI in B2B Markets: A Systematic Literature Review. Sustainability, 16(18), 8009.

Hoyer, W. D., Kroschke, M., Schmitt, B., Kraume, K., & Shankar, V. (2020). Transforming the customer experience through new technologies. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 51(1), 57-71.

Huang, M. H., & Rust, R. T. (2024). The caring machine: Feeling AI for customer care. Journal of Marketing, 00222429231224748.

Jenneboer, L., Herrando, C., & Constantinides, E. (2022). The impact of chatbots on customer loyalty: A systematic literature review. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 17(1), 212-229.

Kshetri, N., Dwivedi, Y. K., Davenport, T. H., & Panteli, N. (2023). Generative artificial intelligence in marketing: Applications, opportunities, challenges, and research agenda. International Journal of Information Management, 102716.

Liu-Thompkins, Y., Okazaki, S., & Li, H. (2022). Artificial empathy in marketing interactions: Bridging the human-AI gap in affective and social customer experience. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 1-21.

Longoni, C., & Cian, L. (2022). Artificial intelligence in utilitarian vs. hedonic contexts: The “word-of-machine” effect. Journal of Marketing, 86(1), 91-108.

Luo, X., Tong, S., Fang, Z., and Qu, Z. (2019). Frontiers: Machines vs. humans: The impact of artificial intelligence chatbot disclosure on customer purchases. Marketing Science, 38 (6), 937-947.

Moussawi, S., Koufaris, M., & Benbunan-Fich, R. (2021). How perceptions of intelligence and anthropomorphism affect adoption of personal intelligent agents. Electronic Markets, 31(2), 343-364.

MSI. (2024). Research Priorities 2024-2026. Massachusetts, in Marketing Science Institute.

Dr. Carolina Herrando
Guest Editor

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• digital marketing
• artificial intelligence
• customer experience
• e-commerce
• privacy
• personalization
• ethics
• loyalty
• innovative technologies
• emotions