AI Adoption in B2B Marketing: An Analysis of Technological, Organizational, and Environmental Factors

Alessandra Cioli, Luca Marinelli, Antonella La Rocca and Andrea Perna

Micro & Macro Marketing, 2025, issue 3, 491-527

Abstract: This study explores AI adoption in Business-to-Business (B2B) marketing, focusing on the technological, organizational, and environmental factors shaping the process. Using the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, it employs an exploratory qualitative design based on semi-structured interviews with key informants from firms operating within B2B contexts. The findings reveal a multi-layered structure underlying AI adoption in organizations, encompassing three interrelated dimensions. First, the study identifies both the drivers that motivate firms to adopt AI and the barriers that hinder its diffusion. Second, it examines the adoption approaches used to implement AI within marketing functions. Third, it explores the enabling factors that support or accelerate the effective integration of AI into marketing processes. By highlighting the distinctive features of AI as a disruptive technology, the study extends the TOE framework through the identification of AI-specific factors within each of its dimensions. A key contribution of this research lies in its conceptual distinction between "systemic" and "individual" AI configurations, which clarifies the differing adoption pathways, strategic approaches, and enabling conditions associated with each. This distinction advances current theoretical understanding by moving beyond the prevailing one-dimensional perspective on AI adoption, offering novel insights for both scholars and practitioners seeking to facilitate AI integration in B2B marketing.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence (AI); AI adoption; B2B marketing; Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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