Artificial intelligence adoption in

business-to-business marketing: toward

a conceptual framework
Lujie Chen and Mengqi Jiang
International Business School Suzhou (IBSS), Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China
Fu Jia
Management School, University of York, York, UK, and
Guoquan Liu
International Business School Suzhou (IBSS), Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to develop a synthesized conceptual framework for artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in the field of
business-to-business (B2B) marketing.
Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual development approach has been adopted, based on a content analysis of 59 papers in peer-
reviewed academic journals, to identify drivers, barriers, practices and consequences of AI adoption in B2B marketing. Based on these analyses and
findings, a conceptual model is developed.
Findings – This paper identifies the following two key drivers of AI adoption: the shortcomings of current marketing activities and the external pressure
imposed by informatization. Seven outcomes are identified, namely, efficiency improvements, accuracy improvements, better decision-making, customer
relationship improvements, sales increases, cost reductions and risk reductions. Based on information processing theory and organizational learning theory
(OLT), an integrated conceptual framework is developed to explain the relationship between each construct of AI adoption in B2B marketing.
Originality/value – This study is the first conceptual paper that synthesizes drivers, barriers and outcomes of AI adoption in B2B marketing. The
conceptual model derived from the combination of information processing theory and OLT provides a comprehensive framework for future work and
opens avenues of research on this topic. This paper contributes to both AI literature and B2B literature.
Keywords Artificial intelligence, Business-to-business marketing, Information processing theory, Organizational learning theory, Conceptual
Paper type Literature review

1. Introduction changes occurring more frequently and rapidly (Colter et al.,

Artificial intelligence (AI) is defined as “a system’s ability to
correctly interpret external data, to learn from such data and to
use those learnings to achieve specific goals and tasks through
flexible adaptation” (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2019, p. 15). From
the Turing test (Turing, 1950) to “Deepfake,” which replaces a
person in an existing image or video with someone else’s
likeness (Kietzmann et al., 2020), AI has experienced rapid
development over the past 80 years. Recently, AI has
penetrated many industries, including health, transportation
and manufacturing, because it can solve problems with
traditional mathematical models (Thrall et al., 2018; Xiong
et al., 2015). The business-to-business (B2B) field is not
immune to the fundamental changes brought about by AI.
Traditional marketers are facing difficulties because of rapidly
changing customer preferences, a longer sales process with
multiple influencers making buying decisions and market
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald
Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/0885-8624.htm
Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
37/5 (2022) 1025–1044
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 0885-8624]
[DOI 10.1108/JBIM-09-2020-0448]
2019). A recent survey of more than 1,400 B2B marketing
executives revealed that professional services is one of the most
popular industries for AI (MIT Technology Review Insights,
2018). Practitioners expect the potential impact of AI on B2B
marketing and sales practices to include personalization,
customization, innovation and enhanced marketing
effectiveness and efficiency (EverString, 2018). Meanwhile, AI
adoption by some famous companies also shows the huge
potential of AI applications in B2B marketing; for example,
Lookalike Audience, a recent innovation of Facebook that
analyzes the physical appearance of a company’s customer base
and helps those companies to find more people that look like
their existing customers (Andreou et al., 2019) and Dell’s use of
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support by Natural
Science Foundation of China Young Scientist Fund (no. 71902159),
Haixi Finance Development Centre (Open fund scheme, grant number
HXCJ1901, Minjiang University and the Research Development Funding
(RDF-19-01-17) of Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.
Received 30 September 2020
Revised 8 December 2020
17 February 2021
29 April 2021
16 June 2021
Accepted 5 July 2021

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AI-enabled analytics to identify the types of prospect behavior combinations between AI-related terminologies and B2B
most likely to lead to the purchase of different products, helping marketing keywords in the three well-known research
its sales force to pinpoint high-quality leads (King, 2012). databases – Scopus, Web of Science (WoS) and ABI/inform
Scholars have recognized the potential benefits of AI adoption collection – with such keywords and terminologies selected
in B2B marketing. Some articles summarize how AI may based on previous review articles on AI techniques (Contreras
influence B2B marketing activities; for instance, Martínez-L
opez and Vehi, 2018; Giri et al., 2019; Oke, 2008) and B2B
and Casillas (2013) reviewed the application of intelligent marketing (Chang, 2014; Keränen et al., 2012), respectively.
systems in industrial marketing while Paschen et al. (2019) To ensure the rationality of our selected keywords, we also
explained how AI is applied in B2B marketing from a knowledge consulted two external experts in the field of AI and B2B
management perspective. However, to date, no study has marketing. The final search strings are shown in Table 1.
developed a conceptual framework of AI adoption in B2B We selected only English-language articles in peer-reviewed
marketing, implying a lack of managerial guidance for marketers journals using an open start date and ending in July 2020. Using a
adopting AI. There also appears to be a gap between marketers’ combination of the above search terms to collect the titles,
enthusiasm for the potential of AI and their knowledge of how to keywords, abstracts and subjects of articles in the databases, a
use it (Campbell et al., 2020; EverString, 2018). Therefore, we total of 967 relevant papers were found (without removing
argue that it is necessary to conduct a systematic literature review duplicates). Second, we evaluated the articles by reviewing the
to explore how AI affects B2B marketing activities. titles and abstracts and applying the inclusion and exclusion
The purpose of this paper is to summarize existing research criteria presented in Table 2. As a result, we identified 172 papers
on AI adoption in B2B marketing to propose an integrated
conceptual model. We conduct a systematic literature review to
identify the drivers of, barriers to and outcomes of different Table 1 Search strings for research literature databases
types of AI adopted in the specific area; that is, B2B marketing AND
department inside companies. Building on information process
A. AI-related B. B2B marketing related
theory (IPT) and organizational learning theory (OLT), a
artificial intelligence B-to-B
conceptual framework is derived, together with seven
algorithm business-to-business
propositions that explain the relationships among the key
autonom* BtoB
constructs of the framework. To frame the research, we address
computation* B2B
the following research questions (RQs): cluster*
RQ1. To which aspects of B2B marketing can different types data mining
of AI techniques be applied? decision support
deep learning
RQ2. What are the drivers of and barriers to adopting AI expert systems
techniques in B2B marketing activities? fuzzy logic
machine learning
RQ3. What are the outcomes of applying AI techniques in natural language
B2B marketing? neural network
pattern recognition
The rest of the paper is structured as follows. In Section 2, we
programming
present an overview of the literature review methodology. Section
reason
3 presents the findings of the literature review. In Section 4, an reinforcement learning
integrated conceptual model building on IPT and OLT is swarm
presented. Section 5 discusses the gaps in the literature and future supervised learning
research directions for this research field. Section 6 concludes.
Note: The “ ” sign was used at the end of some keywords to expand the
range of possible studies
2. Methodology
To address the research questions and explore the factors
affecting AI adoption in B2B marketing, we conduct a
systematic literature review, a methodology previously applied Table 2 Inclusion and exclusion criteria for material selection
in industrial marketing research (Salo, 2017; Mora Cortez, Focus on certain AI techniques applied to B2B
2020). The purpose of a systematic literature review is to Inclusion criteria marketing activities
summarize evidence and trends for the further development of
Exclusion criteria Only focus on the operation of companies involved
a particular topic. Following previous literature on approaches
in B2B market
to systematic literature reviews (Chen et al., 2021; Snyder,
The content contains the terms “AI technique” and
2019; Tranfield et al., 2003), we targeted existing literature
“B2B marketing,” but does not explain how the
relating to AI adoption in B2B marketing in peer-reviewed
certain AI technique can be applied to B2B
journals, which represent the main source of knowledge marketing activities
regarding this specific topic. To collect the most influential The proposed model or solution may optimize
papers, we used the four-step methodology recommended by business processes, but it does not belong to AI
Rowley and Slack (2004). First, we searched all possible

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 Artificial intelligence adoption
Lujie Chen, Mengqi Jiang, Fu Jia and Guoquan Liu
(after excluding duplicates) for the second round. Third, we
further reviewed and analyzed the full texts of the 172 papers,
which resulted in the remaining 57 articles in this literature
review. Finally, we adopted a cross-referencing approach by
checking references of the 57 papers and further identified two
relevant articles. Thus, our final number of papers for review
was 59 (Appendix). The whole process of paper collection was
carried out by two researchers independently, and if there was
any disagreement, they discussed the matter until they reached
an agreement or sought a third opinion from another member of
the team. The review methodology is depicted in Figure 1.
As shown in Figure 2, the number of publications was rather
limited prior to 2005. From 1990 to 2004, no more than one
paper was published each year. However, research on this topic
has been increasingly popular after 2005. The number of
published articles peaked in 2013 and numbered seven for each
of 2017 and 2020, suggesting that AI adoption in B2B
marketing is still a current and developing topic. Although this
is not striking compared with other popular research areas, an
increasing trend can be clearly observed.
Figure 1 Review methodology
Key words:
ALL possible combinations between ("artificial intelligence" OR "algorithm" OR
"autonom*" OR "computation*" OR "cluster*"OR "data mining" OR "decision support"
OR "deep learning" OR "expert system" OR "fuzzy logic" OR "machine learning" OR
"natural language" OR "neural network" OR "pattern recognition" OR "programming" OR
"reasoning" OR "reinforcement learning" OR "swarm" OR "supervised learning") AND
("B2B" OR "B-to-B" OR "BtoB" OR "business-to-business")
Subject areas:
Scopus: Business, Management and accounting, Social sciences, Decision sciences,
Psychology, Art and humanities, and Multidisciplinary.
WoS: Management, Operations research management science, Business, Sociology,
Social science interdisciplinary, Multidisciplinary sciences, Psychology multidisciplinary,
and Psychology applied.
ABI/Inform collection: Social, Sciences, Management, Business
Language: English
Document types: Article and review
Source type: Journal
Timespan: ~ April 2020
If important literature is cited in the paper, the original articles were also
considered
Figure 2 Distribution of articles over time
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Table 3 presents the number of papers published by each
journal. The top six journals account for more than 50% of the
reviewed publications, while the other 26 articles were drawn
from the remaining 26 journals. The highest number of articles
were found in Decision Support Systems, Expert Systems with
Applications, Industrial Marketing Management and Journal of
Business and Industrial Marketing, which indicates that this
research area is treated in specialized science and technology
journals, as well as in general operations management journals.
Finally, the coding process involves the identification of
drivers of, barriers to and outcomes of AI adoption in B2B
marketing. To ensure intercoder reliability, the whole process
of paper selection and coding was performed independently by
two researchers, as suggested by previous conceptual papers
(Jia et al., 2017). Inconsistencies in the paper selection and
coding results were resolved by discussing and re-examining
the contentious studies until reaching a complete agreement. If
the paper selection or coding was still inconsistent, the coders
requested the participation of a third expert, who was not part
of the co-author team.
Selection of databases
Scopus, Web of Science, ABI/Inform collection
Collection of articles
Total number of articles: 967
Evaluated by a quick scan of the titles and
abstracts after excluding duplicates
Leaving 172 potential articles
Read and analyzed the full-text available
Leaving 57 papers
Additional publications
2 papers
Final papers
59
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3. Findings Table 5 Distribution of B2B marketing activities where AI was applied

3.1 Taxonomy of applied artificial intelligence B2B marketing activity No. of papers (%)
techniques and involved business-to-business Customer relationship management 17 31.5
marketing activities Product and advertisement recommendation 9 16.7
Combining the classification methods for AI in previous review Transactions negotiation 7 13.0
literatures (Giri et al., 2019; Martínez-L

opez and Casillas, 2013) Pricing 6 11.1
and the AI categories in the sampled articles, we identified five Marketing data analysis 5 9.3
groups for classification with respect to AI techniques, namely, Order optimization 4 7.4
decision support system (DSS), machine learning, intelligent agent, Strategy analysis 3 5.6
recommendation system and expert system. As shown in Table 4, Market segmentation 3 5.6
DSS (25.9%) is the most widely used AI technique studied in Personalized service 3 5.6
academic literature in the context of B2B marketing, followed by Total 54 100
machine learning (20.4%) and intelligent agent (18.5%).
Note: There is more than one marketing activity mentioned in several
To assess to which aspects of B2B marketing AI could be
sampled articles
applied, we counted the marketing activities that each article
focused on, and identified nine groups: customer relationship
management (CRM), product and advertisement
recommendation, transactions negotiation, pricing, marketing
data analysis, strategy analysis, market segmentation, order than subjective standards or “instincts” (Sprague, 1980; Noori
optimization and personalized service. As shown in Table 5, and Salimi, 2005). A typical day-to-day example of DSS is
CRM is the field with the most AI applications in the academic global positioning system, which can be used to determine the
literature in the context of B2B marketing, accounting for fastest or shortest route between two points by analyzing and
31.5% of all selected papers. Following that, product and comparing multiple possible options. With the advances in
advertisement recommendation and transactions negotiation computer technology for processing information, DSS has
accounted for 16.7% and 13.0%, respectively. been widely used in marketing activities, and now plays a
In this section, we briefly introduce the concepts underlying crucial role in the development of a firm (Alexouda, 2005).
each AI technique and discuss how each has been adopted in In our sampled articles, DSS is the most widely used of all AI
different B2B marketing activities. techniques studied in the academic literature in the context of
B2B marketing, highlighting the importance of DSS for B2B
3.1.1 Decision support system marketing practitioners. First, DSS can be applied to B2B
A DSS is an interactive computer-based system designed to transaction pricing. For example, DSS can support
solve unstructured problems based on objective data rather differentiated pricing for different customers to obtain higher
profit (Fu et al., 2017), while DSS can also analyze previous
Table 3 Distribution of reviewed papers by journal transaction information to inform reasonable bid pricing in
No. of electronic auctions (Sen et al., 2020). Second, another broad
Journal papers (%) application of DSS in the sampled articles is CRM in B2B
marketing. CRM is defined as a comprehensive strategy and
DSS 8 13.8 process that creates outstanding value for the company and
Expert Systems with Applications 7 11.9 customers through acquisition, retention and partnership with
Industrial Marketing Management 7 11.9 selected customers (Parvatiyar and Sheth, 2004). Noori and
Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing 6 10.2 Salimi (2005) showed that DSS can help adjust marketing
Journal of Decision Systems 2 3.4 strategies to better serve customers through case studies.
Journal of Information Systems and Meanwhile, the DSS proposed by Güçdemir and Selim (2018)
Telecommunication 2 3.4 can judge the criticality of customers and then schedule the
Others 27 45.8 sequence of customers’ order to balance profit and customer
Total 59 100 satisfaction. A third application of DSS, order optimization
and, in particular, solutions to seasonal demands has also been
identified (Chiang and Wu, 2011; Wu et al., 2010).
Table 4 Distribution of reviewed papers by AI type Researchers have proved that DSS can generate dynamic
strategies to support managers to retain high-income orders
AI class No. of papers (%)
while eliminating low-income orders. Finally, in addition to
Decision support system 14 25.9 applications on the sales side, DSS can provide buyers with
Machine learning 11 20.4 product search suggestions, thereby increasing the possibility of
Intelligent agent 10 18.5 transactions (Silverman et al., 2001).
Recommendation system 8 14.8
3.1.2 Machine learning
Expert system 4 7.4
Not specified 7 13.0
Machine learning is the study of algorithms by which
Total 54 100 computers are trained based on sample data, known as
“training data,” to perform the assigned task without human

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Lujie Chen, Mengqi Jiang, Fu Jia and Guoquan Liu
intervention and learn from the patterns of the data itself (Neal,
2007). It involves computers discovering an efficient way to
perform assigned tasks, even without being explicitly
programmed to do so. In some complex tasks, adopting
machine learning to help a computer system develop its own
algorithm may be more effective than having a human
programmer specify every required step (Ethem, 2020).
In our sampled articles, CRM is the most common
application of machine learning in B2B marketing. Machine
learning can effectively predict customer behavior and identify
customer needs (Bohanec et al., 2017; Gentner et al., 2018;
Liu, 2020) and predict customer churn (Gordini and Veglio,
2017; Schaeffer and Rodriguez Sanchez, 2020), and hence help
marketers develop effective CRM strategies. Further, machine
learning can also be adopted in market segmentation (Fish
et al., 1995; S
anchez-Hern
andez et al., 2013) to support
marketers to segment their market more accurately, thereby
increasing the efficiency of salespeople and other promotional
activities.
3.1.3 Intelligent agents
An intelligent agent is an autonomous software-based system
that can recognize opportunities and react to its environment,
interact with other agents and adapt to learn from experience
(Bradshaw, 1997). AI assistants, such as Alexa and Siri, are
common examples of intelligent agents as they perceive a
request made by the user and then provide answers by
automatically collecting data from the internet (Brill et al.,
2019).
In B2B marketing, intelligent agents provide necessary
support in transaction negotiation (Hossain et al., 2010; Rau
et al., 2009; Shojaiemehr and Rafsanjani, 2018), in which they
attempt to reach an agreement with a buyer autonomously and
efficiently, overcoming obstacles caused by cultural differences
or emotional factors in traditional negotiations. Meanwhile, by
simultaneously monitoring multiple auctions and bidding,
intelligent agents improve an organization’s ability to
participate in B2B transactions (Bandyopadhyay et al., 2008).
Further, intelligent agents have been implemented in B2B
marketing for automated merchandise management, in which
the major activities include selecting, ordering and distributing
merchandise (Park and Park, 2003). Finally, intelligent agents
can also be adopted in marketing data analysis (Iyer et al.,
2005) and personalized advertising (Yager, 2000) to achieve
better marketing performance by increasing the accuracy of
customer segmentation.
3.1.4 Recommendation system
With the rapid increase of internet users and the popularization
of electronic transactions, recommendation systems have
become a research focus for scholars and various e-commerce
platforms (Piao et al., 2009). A recommendation system is a
software application that recommends items of interest, such as
products or services, to users based on their explicit or implicit
preferences (Manouselis and Costopoulou, 2007). Companies
such as Amazon and Netflix have adopted recommendation
systems to help users to discover new and relevant items,
improving user experience while increasing revenue.
Recommendation systems can be divided into three categories
(Adomavicius and Tuzhilin, 2005):
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1 content-based recommendation/filtering, which
recommends items similar to a user’s past preferences;
2 collaborative recommendation/filtering, which
recommends items that people with similar tastes and
preferences have appreciated in the past; and
3 a hybrid approach/filtering, which combines the first two.
Of these, currently, collaborative filtering (CF) is the most
commonly used approach (Shambour and Lu, 2012).
In the sampled articles, scholars proposed recommendation
systems based on several pioneering algorithms (e.g. entropy-
based CF algorithms) to effectively solve the problem of data
sparsity and cold starts caused by a lack of information on new
users, discover the hidden interests of users and provide users
with effective product recommendations and advertising
positioning (Piao et al., 2009; Lee et al., 2006; Abrahams et al.,
2013; Saravanan et al., 2016). In general, recommendation
systems have great potential in B2B marketing to improve
customer experience and help organizations retain customers.
3.1.5 Expert systems
An expert system is a computer program that solves a narrowly
defined set of problems using information and reasoning
techniques normally associated with a human expert (Oke,
2008; Steinberg and Plank, 1990). It was the first popular
application in the field of AI (Russell and Norvig, 2003). Expert
systems can be divided into inference engines and knowledge
bases. The knowledge base system follows the principles of
facts and rules, while the inference engine system uses rules to
learn facts and derive new facts (Giri et al., 2019). Unlike other
self-learning AI, expert systems generally require manual input
to enhance machine learning and constantly update domains
and knowledge databases (Harmon and King, 1985). An
example of an expert system is MYCIN, which recommends
antibiotics based on the bacteria that cause infections and the
patient’s weight (Shortliffe and Buchanan, 1975).
Expert systems can support B2B marketers in sales forecasts,
sales strategy analysis and market analysis through the
application of knowledge bases (Steinberg and Plank, 1990).
For instance, the expert system proposed by Lee and Kwon
(2008) can provide intelligent support in transactions
negotiation using advanced reasoning logic. Further,
Angermann and Ramzan (2016) proposed an expert system
that serves the customer side – using the knowledge provided
by the CRM system to predict customer preferences. This
system predicts customer needs in a B2B environment,
generates personalized electronic catalogs for customers and
increases the probability of sales occurring.
3.2 Drivers and outcomes of artificial intelligence
adoption in business-to-business marketing
Regarding how AI can improve B2B marketing activities, we
grouped the above five AI classes (DSS, machine learning,
intelligent agent, recommendation system and expert system)
into three categories to discuss the drivers and outcomes of AI
adoption. First, we group AI that supports decision-making of
marketers into a decision support group. Second, AI that
automatically collects and processes data, and negotiates and
trades in place of humans, is grouped into a process automation
group. Finally, AI that provides customized services for
customers is grouped into a customized service provision
 Artificial intelligence adoption
Lujie Chen, Mengqi Jiang, Fu Jia and Guoquan Liu
group. The following section describes the drivers and
outcomes of each AI category in detail.
3.2.1 Drivers of decision support artificial intelligence adoption in
business-to-business marketing
Table 6 shows the drivers of AI adoption in B2B marketing in
our sampled articles. For decision support AI, the drivers we
extracted mainly involve a specific problem related to a task
characteristic in existing B2B marketing activities. For
example, cluster demand and seasonal demand often lead to
insufficient capacity, implying a role for intelligent tools in
evaluating the value of and retaining the most valuable orders
(Chiang and Wu, 2011; Wu et al., 2010). In addition, with
improved access to information, the cost for customers to
switch between competing companies is lower; however,
providing incentives to all customers risks wasting resources.
Hence, companies need to accurately identify defecting
customers to conduct targeted marketing strategies (Gordini
and Veglio, 2017; Jahromi et al., 2014; Moghaddam et al.,
2017). In the bidding process, a company may win at a lower
price, but this will result in a decline in profits (Fu et al., 2017;
Moosmayer et al., 2013). Given the lack of information and
knowledge, formulating the most reasonable pricing strategy
has become a complex issue for managers. Through the
application of expert knowledge, the study of past cases, or the
analysis of customer information, AI can provide support for
managers’ decision-making and help solve the problems
discussed above.
3.2.2 Drivers of process automation artificial intelligence adoption
in business-to-business marketing
The main drivers of the adoption of process automation AI in
our sampled articles are human deficiencies and external
pressure caused by digitalization of business environment.
According to Gatner’s glossary, digitalization is defined as the
use of digital technologies to change a traditional business
model and provide new opportunities for the business’s value
creation (Bloomberg, 2018). Such transformation has brought
challenges for traditional B2B marketing activities. First,
human subjectivity can lead to biased conclusions. Many
scholars believe that humans rely on intuition or guesswork to
determine customer acquisition, B2B sales predictions or
marketing data analysis, which results in inaccurate predictions
and resource wastage (Bohanec et al., 2017). In addition, Park
and Park (2003) and Rachapudi et al. (2019) pointed out that
because of human inefficiency, processing large amounts of
data or information is difficult, time-consuming and costly.
Similarly, negotiation efficiency is reduced by cultural gaps,
self-centeredness and the tension between two parties seeking
to maximize their own profits; hence, intelligent agents may be
helpful to address inefficiency during negotiation (Cheng et al.,
2006). Finally, the huge volume of data on the internet caused
by digitalization not only overturns traditional B2B value
creation and puts pressure on organizations (Gupta et al., 2017;
Paschen et al., 2019) but also provides an opportunity for
organizations to approach customers. Liu (2020), Meire et al.
(2017) and Paschen et al. (2019) all argued that the internet is
replete with insights into consumer behavior, providing
unprecedented opportunities for advances in consumer
psychology and behavior.
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3.2.3 Drivers of customized service provision artificial intelligence
adoption in business-to-business marketing
Two main drivers were identified for AI that provides
customized services for customers. First, in the face of massive
product information and advertising, customers cannot find
desired products easily, which reduces the customer experience
and the occurrence of B2B sales (Abrahams et al., 2013).
Therefore, customers need customized recommendation
systems to improve their purchasing experience. A recent study
by Epsilon showed that 90% of customers find personalization
appealing. Moreover, a further 80% claim they prefer to do
business with a company when offered personalized
experiences, which is consistent with our findings (Epsilon,
2018). Second, the existing recommendation algorithm has
many deficiencies. Piao et al. (2009), Saravanan et al. (2016)
and Shambour and Lu (2012, 2015) pointed out that existing
CF algorithms are limited by data sparsity, cold startup and
scalability. For instance, the cold startup problem occurs when
there is not enough previous ratings related to a new item or
there is not enough information related to a new user’s past
purchases. The continual development of AI technologies is
expected to improve existing algorithms of recommendation
systems, thereby increasing company sales.
3.2.4 Outcomes of decision support artificial intelligence adoption in
business-to-business marketing
As shown in Table 7, the main outcome of adopting decision
support AI is better marketing decisions such as formulating
appropriate pricing and negotiation strategies and retaining the
most valuable orders (Bahrami et al., 2020). In providing
decision support to marketers, AI can significantly improve
efficiency in dealing with specific issues. For example, Aziz
(2015) and Steinberg and Plank (1990) argued that knowledge
in expert systems can be accessed at any time without the need
to organize expert meetings or external consultations, which
improves the decision-making efficiency of sales staff and
managers. Additionally, many articles have emphasized that AI
can significantly improve the accuracy of segmentation and
clustering, including market segmentation, customer clustering
and supplier clustering (Farazzmanesh and Hosseini, 2017).
Moreover, Wilson and Bettis-Outland (2019) found that AI
can improve the accuracy of marketers in predictions based on
marketing data, customer information or customer behavior.
Further, the adoption of AI can help companies reduce risks;
for instance, Gordini and Veglio (2017) proposed an early
warning model to reduce the risk of customer churn. Finally, by
predicting the churn of customers, intelligent systems avoid
wasting resources on defecting customers or providing
incentives to all customers to reduce costs (Jahromi et al.,
2014).
3.2.5 Outcomes of process automation artificial intelligence
adoption in business-to-business marketing
As AI has powerful data processing capabilities, the adoption of
AI in data collection and processing significantly improves
efficiency (Gentner et al., 2018; Meire et al., 2017; Rachapudi
et al., 2019). In addition, scholars have demonstrated that, under
laboratory conditions, AI has the potential to replace humans in
some basic traditional B2B marketing activities such as
negotiations and transactions, saving human resource costs and
time for the organization (Bandyopadhyay et al., 2006, 2008).
 Artificial intelligence adoption Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
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Table 6 Drivers of AI adoption in B2B marketing (extracted from sampled articles)

No. Drivers Details
1. AI type – decision support (mainly based on expert system, machine learning and DSS)
1.1 Inconsistent evaluation criteria Evaluation indicators lack consistency
due to changes in the membership of
the human expert team
1.2 Necessity of customer identification Providing incentives to all customers
risks wasting resources, hence
organizations tend to identify defected
customers vs loyal customers
1.3 Tendency to improve CRM Fierce competition forces firms to
understand customer needs to adjust
marketing strategies and improve
customer satisfaction and retention
1.4 Complexity of pricing Due to lack of information and
knowledge, it is difficult for firms to
win the bidding via the most suitable
price
Raising prices without affecting
customer relationships poses a
problem for salespeople
1.5 Order optimization issues Cluster demand and cyclical demand
may result in insufficient manufacturer
capacity
1.6 Complexity of market segments The variables involved in market
segmentation are highly differentiated
2. AI type – process automation (mainly based on intelligent agents and machine learning)
2.1 Human subjectivity People rely on intuition or guesswork
to determine customer acquisition,
B2B sales prediction or marketing data
analysis, which results in inaccurate
prediction and waste of resources
2.2 Human inefficiency Human processing of large amounts of
data or information is difficult, time-
consuming and costly
2.3 Information explosion Information on the internet is replete
with insights into consumer behavior
2.4 Inefficiency of negotiations Negotiation efficiency is reduced by
cultural gaps, self-centeredness and
the contradictions between two parties
seeking to maximize their own profits
3. AI type – customized service provision (mainly based on recommendation system)
3.1 Confusing information on the customer side Customers cannot find the desired
information or products due to
excessive information on the internet
3.2 Limitations of existing recommendation techniques Current CF algorithms are limited by
data sparsity, cold startups and
scalability
The current recommendation
system may recommend items that
are out of stock or about to be out
of stock, which leads to customer
dissatisfaction
References
Aziz (2015)
Gordini and Veglio (2017), Jahromi
et al. (2014), Moghaddam et al. (2017)
Farazzmanesh and Hosseini (2017),
Latusek (2010), Noori and Salimi
(2005)
Cassaigne and Singh (1999), Sen et al.
(2020)
Fu et al. (2017), Moosmayer et al.
(2013)
Chiang and Wu (2011), Wu et al.
(2010)
Fish et al. (1995), Rezaei and Ortt
(2013)
Bohanec et al. (2017), Gentner et al.
(2018), Haen and Van den Poel (2013),
Wilson and Bettis-Outland (2019)
Park and Park (2003), Rachapudi et al.
(2019)
Liu (2020), Meire et al. (2017), Paschen
et al. (2019)
Cheng et al. (2006), Hossain et al.
(2010), Rau et al. (2009), Shojaiemehr
and Rafsanjani (2018)
Abrahams et al. (2013), Angermann
and Ramzan (2016), Backhaus et al.
(2010), Lee and Kwon (2008),
Silverman et al. (2001)
Piao et al. (2009), Saravanan et al.
(2016), Shambour and Lu (2015, 2012)
Dadouchi and Agard (2018)

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Lujie Chen, Mengqi Jiang, Fu Jia and Guoquan Liu Volume 37 · Number 5 · 2022 · 1025–1044
Table 7 Outcomes AI adoption in B2B marketing (extracted from sampled articles)
No. Outcomes Details
1. AI type – decision support (mainly based on expert systems, machine learning and DSS)
1.1 Efficiency improving The knowledge in the expert system
can be accessed at any time, which
improves the efficiency of sales staff
and managers in decision-making
Improves the efficiency of
managers in pricing
1.2 Accuracy improving Improves the accuracy of marketers in
market segmentation, customer cluster
or partner cluster
Improves the accuracy of
marketers in prediction based on
marketing data, customer
information or customer behavior
1.3 Better decision-making AI can help marketers make better
decisions in marketing activities such
as pricing, negotiation and order
retention
1.3 Risk reducing Establishes an early warning model to
reduce the risk of customer churn
Reduces the risk of insufficient
capacity due to cluster demand or
periodic demand
1.4 Cost reducing By predicting customer churn, AI can
avoid wasting resources on defecting
customers, or provide incentives for all
customers
2. AI type – process automation (mainly based on intelligent agents and machine learning)
2.1 Efficiency improving AI is much more efficient than humans
in data collection and processing
2.2 Cost reducing AI can replace humans in a series of
marketing activities, such as
negotiations and transactions, saving
human resource costs and time for the
organization
3. AI type – customized service provision (mainly based on recommendation systems)
3.1 Customer relationship improving Provides customers with personalized
services to improve customer
relationships
3.2 Sale increasing AI can help customers find the
products they want and support
shopping decisions to increase sales
3.3 Risk reducing Reduce the risk of losing customers
due to improperly recommending
products
3.4 Accuracy improving Improve the accuracy of product
recommendations or ad matching
1032
References
Aziz (2015), Steinberg and Plank
(1990)
Leung et al. (2019)
Farazzmanesh and Hosseini (2017),
Fish et al. (1995), Hosseini et al.
(2010), Latusek (2010), Moghaddam
et al. (2017), Noori and Salimi (2005),
Rezaei and Ortt (2013), S
anchez-
Hern
andez et al. (2013)
Bohanec et al. (2017), Wilson and
Bettis-Outland (2019)
Bahrami et al. (2020), Cassaigne and
Singh (1999), Cem Ozturk and Karabatı
(2017), Chiang and Wu (2011), Fu
et al. (2017), Iyer et al. (2005), Lee and
Kwon (2008), Li and Li (2010),
Moosmayer et al. (2013), Sen et al.
(2020)
Gordini and Veglio (2017)
Chiang and Wu (2011), Wu et al.
(2010)
Schaeffer and Rodriguez Sanchez
(2020)
Gentner et al. (2018), Meire et al.
(2017), Rachapudi et al. (2019)
Bandyopadhyay et al. (2008, 2006),
Cheng et al. (2006), Hossain et al.
(2010), Park and Park (2003), Rau
et al. (2009), Shojaiemehr and
Rafsanjani (2018)
Angermann and Ramzan (2016),
Tsafarakis et al. (2013)
Silverman et al. (2001), Lee et al.
(2006), Backhaus et al. (2010)
Dadouchi and Agard (2018)
Dadouchi and Agard (2018), Lee et al.
(2006), Piao et al. (2009), Saravanan
et al. (2016), Shambour and Lu (2015,
2012), Yager (2000)
 Artificial intelligence adoption
Lujie Chen, Mengqi Jiang, Fu Jia and Guoquan Liu
Rau et al. (2009) proposed an intelligent agent auto-negotiation
framework that took mere seconds, instead of hours or days, to
reach an agreement between two trading partners, while the
intelligent agent system proposed by Bandyopadhyay et al.
(2008) can help managers monitor hundreds or even thousands
of concurrent B2B transactions.
3.2.6 Outcomes of customized service provision artificial intelli-
gence adoption in business-to-business marketing
In the customer-oriented B2B market, AI technology can
directly improve customer relationships by providing
customers with personalized services (Angermann and
Ramzan, 2016; Tsafarakis et al., 2013). By helping customers
find the products they want and supporting their purchasing
decisions, an organization’s sales can also be increased
(Backhaus et al., 2010; Lee et al., 2006; Silverman et al., 2001).
Additionally, AI technology can improve the existing
recommendation system, by improving the accuracy of product
recommendation or ad matching (Dadouchi and Agard, 2018)
and reducing the risk of losing customers because of improperly
recommended products (Dadouchi and Agard, 2018).
3.3 Barriers to artificial intelligence adoption in
business-to-business marketing
Challenges and limitations that hinder the application of AI
technology are also acknowledged in our sampled articles
(Table 8). First, practitioners may lack motivation for the
application of AI technology; for example, managers may lack
awareness of the inefficiency of existing business processes
(Silverman et al., 2001). Fu et al. (2017) pointed out that since
different users may have different preferences for model
attributes, it is difficult for intelligent DSS to determine the
most appropriate decision model on their behalf, which may
reduce the desire of decision-makers to use intelligent systems.
In addition, because of fear of being replaced or unwillingness
to learn the knowledge required to use an AI system,
Table 8 Barriers to AI adoption in B2B marketing (extracted from sampled articles)
No. Barriers
1 Lack of motivation
2 Resistance to AI adoption
3 The complexity of the actual business
4 Information security
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practitioners may resist adoption (Paschen et al., 2020;
Steinberg and Plank, 1990). Another important barrier noted
in several articles is the complexity of actual business. As
experimental environments tend to be simple relative to reality,
the role for AI systems in actual B2B marketing activities is
questionable. For instance, Cheng et al. (2006) pointed out
that the actual negotiation and decision-making process
involves additional influencing factors, which can be a
challenge for DSS adoption. Finally, widespread application of
AI will expose users to serious privacy issues and pose
challenges for companies to comply with legislated privacy
requirements.
4. Conceptual framework and propositions
In this section, we aim to develop an integrated conceptual
framework of AI adoption in B2B marketing that integrates the
themes identified from the literature review.
4.1 Organizational learning theory
From the technical perspective of OLT, organizational learning
is the efficient processing of, interpretation of and response to
information inside and outside the organization (Argyris and
Schon, 1996). The information obtained from the perception
of changes in the environment leads to new knowledge and
learning when the information is contextualized and acted on
(Bushe, 2009). Based on the principle that knowledge is
created by information flow (Nonaka, 1994), learning is the
accumulation of knowledge and understanding of its potential
benefits.
4.2 Information processing theory
Early IPT theorists (Galbraith, 1973) posited that resolving
uncertainty is the central task in organizational design. This
theory conceptualizes uncertainty as “the difference between
the amount of information required to perform the task and the
Details References
Managers lack awareness of the Silverman et al. (2001)
inefficiency of the existing business
processes
Due to different user preferences, it is Fu et al. (2017)
difficult for AI to determine the most
appropriate decision model on behalf
of the decision-maker
Due to lack of knowledge or fear of Paschen et al. (2020),
being replaced by AI, practitioners may Steinberg and Plank
resist using AI (1990)
Due to the lack of complex Bandyopadhyay et al.
experimental conditions with actual (2006), Cheng et al.
data support, the ability of AI to solve (2006), Moosmayer
practical problems is questionable et al. (2013)
AI’s powerful data analysis capabilities Paschen et al. (2020)
have caused customer concerns about
information privacy and pose
challenges for companies to comply
with legislated privacy requirements
 Artificial intelligence adoption
Lujie Chen, Mengqi Jiang, Fu Jia and Guoquan Liu
amount of information already possessed by the organization”
(Galbraith, 1973, p. 5). IPT states that the most effective
design strategies are those that recognize an appropriate fit
between an organization’s information processing capabilities
and the amount and type of information that is available or
required (Galbraith, 1973, 1977; Tushman and Nadler, 1978).
To achieve this, organizations can either reduce their
information processing requirements or increase their
capabilities to process such information. As an IT that can
effectively improve the marketing department’s information
processing capabilities (Paschen et al., 2019), AI is regarded as
a mechanism to achieve fit in the IPT model. In this study, we
combine IPT with OLT to build a systematic framework to
reflect the impact of AI adoption on B2B marketing.
4.3 The conceptual framework
To produce a comprehensive overview of the impact of AI
adoption on B2B marketing, we develop a conceptual model, as
shown in Figure 3. We develop a set of propositions that
explore the relationship between each factor related to AI
adoption.
4.3.1 The relationship between information processing requirements
and artificial intelligence adoption
The information processing requirements of an organization
are defined as the disconnection between the information
necessary and the information available for an organization’s
decision-making (Premkumar et al., 2005). IPT states that
information processing requirements stem from various
uncertainties (Tushman and Nadler, 1978). According to IPT,
the source of uncertainty facing a set of subunits can be divided
into three groups, namely, task characteristics, task
environment and inter-unit task interdependence. We expand
this insight to a current B2B marketing department inside an
organization; hence, we view the drivers of AI adoption as the
uncertainty facing the B2B marketing departments.
In the B2B marketing context, the drivers of AI adoption that
we extracted can be considered the sources of such
uncertainties (Table 6). We further divided the drivers of AI
adoption in B2B marketing into the following two groups of
uncertainty: digitalization of the external market environment
and marketing task characteristics related to information
Figure 3 Conceptual framework
Information processing
requirements facing marketing
departments
Digitization of the external
business environment
P1
Task characteristics related to
information processing and
knowledge application P2b
Task interdependence
Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
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processing and knowledge application. However, according to
IPT, task interdependence should not be ignored when
analyzing the drivers of information processing requirements.
Therefore, we further extend our extracted drivers to include
task interdependence to describe the connection between each
task in the B2B marketing context.
In terms of digitalization of the external environment,
massive external information and Big Data directly leads to a
difference between the organization’s information processing
requirements and its information processing capabilities.
Recent research shows that with the arrival of the Big Data era,
the amount of data generated on the web has exploded. For
example, Google currently processes more than 40,000
searches every second or 3.5 billion searches per day, while
Facebook users upload 300 million photos, 510,000 comments
and 293,000 status updates per day (Hariri et al., 2019). Some
studies argue that the existence of such information provides
unprecedented opportunities for B2B marketing activities, such
as user demand forecasting (Meire et al., 2017), as, through the
effective processing of external information, organizations can
make better decisions, and hence improve their overall
performance. However, such digitalization also brings
challenges to organizations’ marketing departments. For
example, Hu (2018) stated that if consumers’ consumption
habits and consumption preferences cannot be met in a timely
manner, or if there is inaccurate consumer positioning or
dissatisfying customer services, the company will face greatly
reduced consumer attention and demand, thus reducing
economic and competition benefits. Further, Tsai et al. (2015)
argued that Big Data analysis is difficult to perform using
traditional data analytics as this can lose effectiveness because
of the five V characteristics of Big Data: high volume, low
veracity, high velocity, high variety and high value. Hence,
Hariri et al. (2019) stated that the characteristics of Big Data
introduce numerous sources of uncertainty, such as
unstructured, incomplete or noisy data, and the adoption of AI
technologies is necessary to address these uncertainties.
Moreover, digitalization not only challenges sellers but also has
an impact on buyers. For example, the lack of buyer-side
decision support or targeted advertising will cause a loss of B2B
transactions and waste of resources (Silverman et al., 2001).
Meanwhile, excessive information and data on the buyer’s side
Learning capacity Outcomes
Financial performance
Adaptive learning
P3a P4
AI adoption
P3b Relationship quality
Generative learning Marketing innovation
Information processing
capabilities of marketing
departments
P2a
IT investment
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 Artificial intelligence adoption
Lujie Chen, Mengqi Jiang, Fu Jia and Guoquan Liu
also creates uncertainty for the organization. For example,
previous literature has emphasized the negative effect of too
much information and data on customer’s purchasing (Hu and
Krishen, 2019; Lee and Lee, 2004; Tolon, 2015). We believe
that increasing digitalization has brought more uncertainty,
such as uncertainty in demand and uncertainty regarding
competition, which has promoted AI adoption in B2B
marketing.
Uncertainty associated with task characteristics is defined as
the amount of unknown information that the firm has to
process during task completion (Galbraith, 1973). In line with
this, the complexity and difficulty of B2B marketing tasks are
regarded as sources of uncertainty increasing the marketing
department’s information processing requirements. For
example, expert knowledge can help marketing departments
make the right decisions, but marketing departments face
uncertainty related to changes in expert team members (Aziz,
2015). Additionally, the variables involved in market
segmentation are highly differentiated (Fish et al., 1995; Rezaei
and Ortt, 2013). Therefore, uncertainty in market
segmentation may occur when manually handling a large
volume of customer profiles because of human subjectivity.
Triggered by these insights, we believe that uncertainties
associated with task characteristics has promoted AI adoption
in B2B marketing.
Finally, task interdependence also creates additional
uncertainty for organizations (Premkumar et al., 2005;
Tushman and Nadler, 1978). In general, B2B marketing
activities rely on the coordination of many independent tasks.
Information is transmitted and processed during these tasks,
which leads to information deviations caused by different
interpretations. For example, CRM requires the coordination
of customer data acquisition, customer behavior analysis and
customer value identification (Farazzmanesh and Hosseini,
2017) while subjective analysis of marketing data may cause
incorrect identification of customer value, thereby affecting the
formulation of marketing plans (Bohanec et al., 2017). These
uncertainties caused by the transmission of information across
different departments or personnel are regarded as drivers that
increase information processing requirements. Based on the
above discussion, we propose the following:
P1. Digitalization of the external business environment, B2B
marketing task characteristics and task interdependence
have a positive impact on AI adoption in B2B marketing.
4.3.2 Information processing capability as a moderator
Information processing capability is defined as the level of IT
support for organization activities (Premkumar et al., 2005).
The traditional IPT model argues that an organization’s
information processing capabilities can be cultivated via various
mechanisms, especially investment in IT (Bensaou and
Venkatraman, 1995; Galbraith, 1977), which is consistent with
practical cases. For example, Epson, a Japanese electronics
company, made an investment in an AI-powered sales assistant
made by Conversica in 2016 to see if it could help Epson
identify hot leads without hiring expensive sales staff (Power,
2017). Power (2017) also found that the official response rate
with the AI assistant was 51%, equivalent to a 75% increase in
qualified leads. Meanwhile, Dell invested in the cloud-based
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Volume 37 · Number 5 · 2022 · 1025–1044
analytics of Lattice Engines to increase the productivity of its
sales force (King, 2012). This technique can help salespeople
identify prospects most likely to buy from Dell. These offer
clear examples of the way in which the information processing
capability of an organization is promoted by IT investment.
For Galbraith (1977), the core idea behind IPT is that
information processing requirements should “fit” or match
information processing capabilities to yield the best results.
Venkatraman (1989) argued that the interaction between the
two variables will have a significant impact on the outcome of
interest. In his groundbreaking work, the concept of fit between
information processing requirements and information
processing capabilities was defined as congruence between
these two variables (Venkatraman, 1989). Cegielski et al.
(2012) further expanded this taxonomy to go beyond the
concept of “fit,” conceptualizing the information processing
capabilities of the firm as a moderating influence on an
organization’s intention to adopt cloud computing
technologies. Following their perspective, we view the
information processing capabilities of B2B marketing
departments as a moderator of the relationship between
information processing requirements facing B2B marketing
departments and AI adoption. We believe that IT investment
increases information processing capabilities, which further
enhances the relationship between information processing
requirements and AI adoption, as improvement of information
processing capabilities can alleviate technical barriers to AI
adoption in an organization. Based on the above discussion, we
propose:
P2a. IT investments are positively related to the marketing
department’s information processing capabilities.
P2b. The marketing department’s information processing
capabilities moderate the relationship between
information processing requirements and AI adoption
in B2B marketing.
4.3.3 The relationship between artificial intelligence adoption and
learning capabilities
OLT states that, to be competitive in a changing environment,
organizations must change their goals and their actions to
achieve these goals (Cangelosi and Dill, 1965). Argyris and
Schon (1978) further argued that organizational learning is an
act that perceives changes in the environment and reacts to
them. Previous studies have confirmed that IT can improve an
organization’s learning ability (Real et al., 2006). Hence, we
view organizational learning capabilities as a consequence of AI
adoption in B2B marketing.
According to the classification of Bateson (1972),
organizational learning generally distinguishes two levels of
learning (Chiva et al., 2010), namely, adaptive (or single-loop)
learning and generative (or double-loop) learning.
Adaptive learning can be described as changes made in
response to a changed environment while generative learning
comprises changes made on a more willful basis, beyond simple
reacting to environmental changes. Senge (1990) pointed out
that improving adaptability is only the first step; companies
need to focus on generative learning to gain a sustainable
competitive advantage (Argyris, 1977). Some studies in other
 Artificial intelligence adoption
Lujie Chen, Mengqi Jiang, Fu Jia and Guoquan Liu
contexts have confirmed the beneficial effects of generative
learning on the organization, such as enhancement of
absorptive capabilities (Li, 2016). However, Li (2016) also
noted that the transition from adaptive learning to generative
learning is time-consuming and requires large-scale changes.
Based on this perspective, we believe that the transformation
from adaptive learning to generative learning in an
organization’s B2B marketing department can be promoted by
AI adoption. On the one hand, with the development of a
company, its learning strategy may transform from adaptive
learning to generative learning to adapt to the fierce
competition environment (Li, 2016). On the other hand, the
improvement of the marketing department’s information
processing capabilities caused by AI adoption may also support
the interaction between the new knowledge of the organization
and the outside (Paschen et al., 2019), therefore providing the
necessary support for the organization’s generative learning.
Therefore, based on the above discussion, we propose:
P3a. AI adoption in B2B marketing increases organizational
learning capabilities of the marketing department.
P3b. An improvement in organizational learning capabilities
is reflected in a transformation from adaptive learning to
generative learning within the marketing department.
4.3.4 The relationship between learning capabilities and marketing
performance
We combine the outcomes extracted (Table 7) and commonly
used B2B marketing performance measurements (Lamberti
and Noci, 2010) to analyze the impact of improvements in
organizational learning capabilities on three measurements of
marketing performance: financial performance, relationship
quality and marketing innovation.
Financial measurement, which refers to the profitability of a
company in general (Dobrzykowski et al., 2015; Geng et al.,
2017), is commonly used to evaluate marketing performance
(Eusebio et al., 2006; Ambler, 2000). In our sampled articles,
an increase in sales (Lee et al., 2006) and reduction in costs
(Schaeffer and Rodriguez Sanchez, 2020) are the main
contributors to improved financial performance. In addition,
increased accuracy of market segmentation (Dadouchi and
Agard, 2018) and reduction of organizational risk (Dadouchi
and Agard, 2018) avoid resource wastage, also improving
overall financial performance.
Customer relationship perspective is another commonly
adopted dimension to evaluate marketing performance
(Lamberti and Noci, 2010; O’Sullivan and Abela, 2007).
Walter et al. (2003) expanded the customer’s relationship
perspective to relationship quality, containing commitment,
trust and customer satisfaction, in their B2B research.
Commitment is generally described as a kind of lasting
intention to build and maintain a long-term relationship
(Morgan and Hunt, 1994). In our sampled articles,
organizations apply AI to strengthen customer relationships
through customized services (Tsafarakis et al., 2013) and
providing customers with decision support to improve their
procurement experience (Silverman et al., 2001), which reflects
the organization’s willingness to maintain long-term
relationships with customers. In turns of trust and satisfaction,
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Volume 37 · Number 5 · 2022 · 1025–1044
the literature has emphasized that technology can improve
customer trust and satisfaction by interacting with customers
more effectively, delivering the information that customers
really need, and developing an effective incentive mechanism
(Trainor et al., 2014). In general, AI helps the marketing
department improve their learning of customer knowledge, and
then make reasonable decisions to improve relationship quality
with customers.
Marketing innovation is defined as improvements in product
design, placement, promotion or pricing (Hurley and Hult,
1998; OECD, 2005). Previous literature has identified that
technology and information facilitate marketing innovation in
competitive markets (Freeman, 1995; Sood and Tellis, 2009).
The adoption of AI has improved the storage, access and
transfer of information including market knowledge, expert
knowledge and marketing data, which is regarded as a source of
improvement in marketing innovation. Therefore, based on the
discussion above, we propose the following:
P4. A high degree of organizational learning capabilities
within the marketing department improves an
organization’s marketing performance, including
financial performance, relationship quality and
marketing innovation.
5. Agenda for future research
This section identifies areas that deserve further research
attention and builds a future research agenda for AI adoption in
B2B marketing.
First, the descriptive analysis indicates that existing research
is uneven across different B2B marketing activities. B2B
marketing is a broad concept, referring to all marketing
strategies or content targeted at an enterprise or organization
(Lamb et al., 2016). However, the distribution of targeted
marketing activities (Table 5) indicates that most research has
focused on CRM, with few studies of other marketing activities,
such as market segmentation, order optimization and
marketing data analysis. Such tilted research focus may hinder
our comprehensive understanding of AI adoption in B2B
marketing activities. Therefore, future research could focus on
these relatively unpopular marketing activities, to reveal a
completer understanding of AI adoption in B2B marketing.
Second, few of our sampled articles mentioned barriers to AI
adoption in B2B marketing, and there is generally a lack of in-
depth analysis of such barriers. Future research could explore
potential barriers to AI adoption and consider how these
barriers interact with and affect one another. Research should
also seek to identify which barrier is dominant and hence
provide managerial guidance for organizations to overcome
such barriers.
Third, although some of the articles argued that the adoption
of AI can save costs on B2B marketing activities (Cheng et al.,
2006), scant literature reveals the cost of AI adoption and the
possible impact on organizational structure. Lack of focus on
these aspects may lead to biased conclusions about
performance measurements, as the cost of AI adoption is also a
vital part of financial performance. Therefore, future research
could focus on the cost of applying AI in B2B marketing
activities, such as the cost of developing intelligent systems and
 Artificial intelligence adoption
Lujie Chen, Mengqi Jiang, Fu Jia and Guoquan Liu
the cost of training employees to use AI. The changes in the
internal structure of the organization caused by the application
of AI, such as the interaction or integration between
departments, are also worthy of further study.
Fourth, we built a conceptual framework based on IPT and
OLT to reflect AI adoption in B2B marketing. Essentially, the
nature of AI is founded on IT-based platforms embedded in
automation and intelligence, in which data, information and
knowledge are important determinants, directly indicating a
firm’s competence (Coulet, 2019). As such, data is
transformed into information, and once this information is
interpreted and placed in context, it evolves into knowledge
and ultimately competence. Therefore, we believe that
exploring the impact of AI adoption on B2B marketing from a
knowledge management perspective and the knowledge-based
view may help us to obtain a better understanding of the
relationship between knowledge and AI adoption.
Finally, in our sampled articles, few studies adopted real
business data to verify the positive effect of AI on B2B
marketing (Sen et al., 2020); most focused only on the specific
principles of the proposed AI or simply analyzed the impact of
the proposed AI without the support of real business data.
However, set laboratory data or experimental conditions
cannot represent the real business environment, which is
increasingly growing in complexity. Therefore, future research
should apply case study or empirical analysis as the research
method to confirm the impact of AI adoption on B2B
marketing, and hence improve the persuasive capabilities of AI
research.
6. Conclusion
In this study, we reviewed 59 studies to explore the state of art
of AI adoption in B2B marketing. According to descriptive
findings, as the beginning of the 21st century, the number of
articles focusing on this field has trended upward. DSS,
machine learning and intelligent agents were the three most-
researched AI techniques studied in B2B marketing while
CRM was the most-researched marketing activity. In addition,
to answer the three research questions, we adopted a content
analysis to identify the drivers of, outcomes of and barriers to AI
adoption. We grouped the five AI classes (DSS, machine
learning, intelligent agent, recommendation system and expert
system) into three categories, namely, decision support group,
process automation group and customized service provision
group. AI drivers for each group differ but can be classified into
solving either the shortcomings of current marketing activities
or the external pressure generated by informatization. We also
identified four barriers to AI adoption in B2B marketing: lack of
motivation, resistance to AI adoption, the complexity of the
actual business and information security. Third, in terms of
outcomes, we identified seven types of improvements that AI
can bring to B2B marketing, namely, efficiency improvements,
accuracy improvements, better decision-making, customer
relationship improvements, sales increases, cost reductions and
risk reductions. In addition, we embedded OLT in the IPT
model to develop a comprehensive conceptual framework to
explain the relationship between the constructs identified,
which is a pioneering effort.
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Overall, this study makes three theoretical contributions.
First, this paper may be the first to develop a conceptual
framework for AI adoption in B2B marketing and identify
relevant drivers, outcomes and barriers. Second, adopting
the IPT and OLT perspectives, this article considers three
uncertainties facing organizations, namely, digitalization of the
external environment, B2B marketing task characteristics and
task interdependence. We revised traditional IPT and brought
this into the current information age to analyze the drivers and
outcomes of AI adoption in B2B marketing. We propose that
the relationship between AI adoption and information
processing requirements is moderated by the information
processing capabilities of the company. Further, successful AI
adoption improves the organization’s learning capabilities.
Ultimately, the improvement of learning capabilities leads to
improvement of organizational performance. This line of
argument significantly enriches the relevant literature by
integrating different levels of analysis. Third, based on a
comprehensive literature review, a conceptual model was
developed and the research gaps were identified; we suggested
numerous actionable directions for future research on the topic
of AI adoption in B2B marketing.
Our article not only makes theoretical contributions but also
has important managerial implications. This literature review
helps marketers understand the strategic importance of AI
adoption. In particular, regarding the drivers and outcomes of
AI adoption, this research enhances managers’ awareness of
how to choose the right type of AI, and helps managers
optimize resource allocation and integrate these key factors into
company strategies. All in all, the framework can support
managers’ decisions and assist them in formulating future
capabilities plans.
Despite these contributions, this study has limitations. First,
although Scopus, WoS and ABI/Inform cover a wide range of
peer-reviewed journals in management science, they do not
include all reputable peer-reviewed journals. Therefore, using
other databases or different search terms may lead to more
complex results. Second, regarding the research methods used,
we developed our conceptual framework by evaluating the
relevant literature and adopting selected theoretical lens
including IPT and OLT; thus, the conceptual model may not
represent all the complexity evident in reality. Therefore,
further empirical work is needed to improve and verify this
framework. Despite these limitations, our analysis provides
important findings for both academic research and
management practice.
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 Artificial intelligence adoption Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
Lujie Chen, Mengqi Jiang, Fu Jia and Guoquan Liu Volume 37 · Number 5 · 2022 · 1025–1044

Appendix

Table A1 Reviewed papers

No. Year Author(s) AI type B2B marketing activities Journal

1 1990 Steinberg, M and Plank, R Expert system Marketing data analysis and strategy Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
analysis
2 1995 Fish, K et al. Machine learning Market segmentation Journal of Decision Systems
3 1999 Cassaigne, N and Singh, M DSS Pricing Journal of Decision Systems
4 2000 Yager, R Intelligent agents Product & advertisement IEEE Intelligent Systems and Their Applications
recommendation
5 2001 Silverman, B et al. DSS Personalized service International Journal of Human Computer Studies
6 2003 Park, J and Park, S Intelligent agents Marketing data analysis Decision Support Systems
7 2005 Iyer, L et al. Intelligent agents Marketing data analysis Information Systems Management
8 2005 Noori, B and Salimi, M DSS Customer relationship management Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing
(CRM)
9 2006 Cheng, C et al. Intelligent agents Transactions negotiation Decision Support Systems
10 2006 Bandyopadhyay, S et al. Intelligent agents Pricing and transactions negotiation Decision Support Systems
11 2006 Lee, T et al. Recommendation Product & advertisement International Journal of Electronic Commerce
system recommendation
12 2008 Lee, K and Kwon, S Expert system Transactions negotiation Expert Systems with Applications
13 2008 Bandyopadhyay, S et al. Intelligent agents Pricing Decision Sciences
14 2009 Rau, H et al. Intelligent agents Transactions negotiation Computers and Industrial Engineering
15 2009 Piao, C et al. Recommendation Product & advertisement Service Oriented Computing and Applications
system recommendation
16 2009 Moreno, J Machine learning Transactions negotiation Energy Policy
17 2010 Li, S and Li, J Intelligent agents Strategy analysis Expert Systems with Applications
18 2010 Latusek, W Other intelligent system CRM Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing
19 2010 Hosseini, M et al. Intelligent agents Transactions negotiation Journal of Advanced Computational Intelligence and
Intelligent Informatics
20 2010 Backhaus, K et al. Recommendation Product & advertisement Electronic Markets
system recommendation and pricing
21 2010 Hosseini, S et al. Other intelligent system CRM Expert Systems with Applications
22 2010 Wu, A et al. DSS Order optimization Journal of the Operations Research Society of Japan
23 2011 Chiang, D and Wu, A DSS Order optimization International Journal of Production Economics
24 2012 Shambour, Q and Lu, J Recommendation Product & advertisement Decision Support Systems
system recommendation
25* 2013 Martínez-L
opez, F and Industrial Marketing Management
Casillas, J
26 2013 Haen, J and Van den Poel, DSS CRM Industrial Marketing Management
D
27 2013 Moosmayer, D et al. DSS Transactions negotiation Expert Systems with Applications
28 2013 Tsafarakis, S et al. Other intelligent system Personalized service Industrial Marketing Management
29 2013 Abrahams, A et al Recommendation Product & advertisement Expert Systems with Applications
system recommendation
30 2013 Rezaei, J Other intelligent system Market segmentation Industrial Marketing Management
31 2013 S
anchez-Hern
andez, G Machine learning Market segmentation Knowledge-Based Systems
et al.
32 2014 Jahromi, A et al. Other intelligent system CRM Industrial Marketing Management
33 2015 Aziz, N Expert system Market segmentation Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information
Technology
34 2015 Shambour, Q and Lu, J Recommendation Product & advertisement Journal of Computer and System Sciences
system recommendation
35 2016 Saravanan, P et al. Recommendation Product & advertisement Research Journal of Pharmaceutical, Biological and
system recommendation Chemical Sciences
36 2016 Angermann, H and Expert system Personalized service Expert Systems with Applications
Ramazn, N
(continued)

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 Artificial intelligence adoption Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
Lujie Chen, Mengqi Jiang, Fu Jia and Guoquan Liu Volume 37 · Number 5 · 2022 · 1025–1044

Table A1

No. Year Author(s) AI type B2B marketing activities Journal

37 2017 Moghaddam, S et al. Other intelligent system CRM Journal of Information Systems and
Telecommunication
38 2017 Meire, M et al. DSS CRM Decision Support Systems
39 2017 Gordini, N and Veglio, V Machine learning CRM Industrial Marketing Management
40 2017 Bohanec, M et al. Machine learning Marketing data analysis Expert Systems with Applications
41 2017 Cem Ozturk, O and DSS Strategy analysis European Journal of Operational Research
Karabati, S
42 2017 Fu, X et al. DSS Pricing Decision Support Systems
43 2017 Farazzmanesh, F and Other intelligent system CRM Journal of Information Systems and
Hosseini, M Telecommunication
44 2018 Dadouchi, C Recommendation Product & advertisement Decision Support Systems
system recommendation
45 2018 Shojaiemehr, B and Intelligent agents Transactions negotiation Information Systems Frontiers
Rafsanjani, M
46 2018 Güçdemir, H and Selim, H DSS CRM and order optimization Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory
47 2018 Gentner, D et al. Machine learning CRM Technology Innovation Management Review
48* 2019 Paschen, J et al. Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing
49* 2019 Giri, C et al. IEEE Access
50 2019 Rachapudi, N et al. Machine learning Data processing International Journal of Machine Learning and
Computing
51 2019 Leung, K et al. DSS Pricing International Journal of Production Research
52 2019 Wilson, R and Bettis- Machine learning Marketing data analysis Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing
Outland, H
53 2020 Schaeffer, S and Rodriguez Machine learning CRM Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services
Sanchez, S
54 2020 Liu, X Machine learning CRM Industrial Marketing Management
55 2020 Bahrami, M et al. Machine learning CRM Big Data
56 2020 Sen, A et al. DSS Pricing Decision Support Systems
57* 2020 Paschen, J et al. Business Horizons
58* 2020 Kot, M and Leszczynski, G Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing
59 2020 Leung, K et al. DSS Order optimization Advanced Engineering Informatics
Note: “ ” represents theoretical analyses or literature review articles

Corresponding author
Fu Jia can be contacted at: jeff_fujia@hotmail.com

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