Enhancing Marketing Provision through Increased Online Safety That Imbues Consumer Confidence: Coupling AI and ML with the AIDA Model

Abstract

To enhance the effectiveness of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in online retail operations and avoid succumbing to digital myopia, marketers need to be aware of the different approaches to utilizing AI/ML in terms of the information they make available to appropriate groups of consumers. This can be viewed as utilizing AI/ML to improve the customer journey experience. Reflecting on this, the main question to be addressed is: how can retailers utilize big data through the implementation of AI/ML to improve the efficiency of their marketing operations so that customers feel safe buying online? To answer this question, we conducted a systematic literature review and posed several subquestions that resulted in insights into why marketers need to pay specific attention to AI/ML capability. We explain how different AI/ML tools/functionalities can be related to different stages of the AIDA (Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action) model, which in turn helps retailers to recognize potential opportunities as well as increase consumer confidence. We outline how digital myopia can be reduced by focusing on human inputs. Although challenges still exist, it is clear that retailers need to identify the boundaries in terms of AI/ML’s ability to enhance the company’s business model.