Sheraz Rafique

The Role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Strategic Marketing – A Scenario of Strategic Marketing in E-Commerce RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 1 2 3 3.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter aims to develop a conceptual understanding of the research. This chapter will incorporate the research methodology, which will be the most appropriate following the research questions. After analyzing the theoretical framework, the most suitable model is discussed after extracting suitable variables related to our study. All primary or secondary sources are under preference while explaining this chapter. The proposed analysis technique is also explained in this chapter to support or deny our claim. Before further discussing our research technique, the most integral concept that is mandatory to understand is “Research Methodology”. This term indicates the appropriate method of conducting research and analysis of the data with the help of analysis software to test our research results. The results are then concluded to interpret the calculations calculated by statistical software, which are supposed to be explained in words. The interpretation should be in a simple language that the ordinary person understands (Creswell, 2009). 3.2 RESEARCH RATIONALE The divide between individuals and robots in decision-making is muddling in marketing and other areas. Currently, AI is progressively being used in functional marketing, such as risk detection, contact centre performing multiple tasks, and brand management, which includes buyer research and segmentation, design and text selection to complement potential customers, and pricing to maximize yield from individual consumers (Khrais, 2020). Someday, Nimbalkar (Nimbalkar, 2022) anticipated that AI would be used in strategic decision-making (e.g. which revenue streams to utilize, which tactics to use, which customers to approach, which goods to promote, which marketing and delivery networks to employ, what sales prices and aggressive positioning techniques to utilize, etc.). Nevertheless, the application of AI in marketing schemes has received little public attention (Rosario, 2021). According to personal observations and connectivity with different stakeholders, likewise business entities, several corporations have achieved remarkable advancement in this area. Still, these initiatives are kept under wraps and considered a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Therefore, it is crucial to shed light on this area to find the optimal use of AI for strategic marketing to increase its use and promote competition, which will benefit consumers and the global economy. 3.3 RESEARCH APPROACH As stated, this research will be conducted on e-commerce due to its growth in recent years. According to Chevalier (2022), retail e-commerce sales in 2021 were roughly 5000 billion USD internationally. This volume is anticipated to upsurge by 50% over the following five years, reaching around 8000 billion USD in the next five years. Therefore, it is an important industry to be explored for the role of AI-based marketing. And for this project, data regarding online purchasing from Alibaba, Amazon, and JD.com will be utilized because of their global market share of more than 70% (Research and Markets, 2022). This selection is part of the convenience sampling method in which the researcher selects a sample based on its experience. This study followed the procedures of primary research under a mixed-method research design, as few variables are quantitative and few are qualitative. Both variables will be studied and observed in a similar environment and economic conditions in Pakistan using statistical regression and correlation tests after descriptive analysis. Another benefit of using the Mixed-Method Research design is that it has been proven as an emergent and most accurate approach to analysing the hybrid data mode where both the quantitative and qualitative variables are the contributing factors. Even a tiny change in the factors causes a significant change; likewise, most of the textile industry was shifted to Bangladesh due to increased taxation and the cost of starting a business in Pakistan (Mckay, J., Marshall, P., & Grainger, 2014). The primary rationale behind the selection of mixed-method design is that the results are more accurate and near to reality due to its internal strength caused by the close relationship between the approaches for both qualitative and quantitative variables rather than using either individually (Creswell, J. W., 2014). This primary research will provide us with the impacts on sales and business growth after implementing AI in strategic marketing through sequential impacts measurement with the help of mixed-methods design to investigate the reasons behind the problems of supply chain management and AI implementation with the consequences in strategic marketing. According to the book Marketing (Sandhusen, 2000), exploratory research studies the leading causes and their alternate solutions to specific problems. References Creswell, J. W., & C.J.D. (2014) ‘Research Design: Qualitative, Qantitative, and Mixed-Method Approach’, Sage Publications, Inc. USA [Preprint]. Creswell, J.W. (2009) Researcg Design Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications - References - Scientific Research Publishing. Available at: https://www.scirp.org/(S(i43dyn45teexjx455qlt3d2q))/reference/ReferencesPapers.aspx?Re%0AferenceID=- (Accessed: 11 June 2021). Khrais, L.T. (2020) ‘Role of Artificial Intelligence in Shaping Consumer Demand in E-Commerce’, Future Internet, 12(12), pp. 1–14. Available at: https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/fi-. Mckay, J., Marshall, P., & Grainger, N. (2014) ‘Rethinking Communication in IT Project Management’, in Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, pp-. Available at: https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS-. Nimbalkar, A. (2022) THE INCREASING IMPORTANCE OF AI APPLICATIONS IN E- COMMERCE A STUDY OF THE APPLICATION OF THE INTERNET OF THINGS IN THE HEALTHCARE SECTOR IN DEALING WITH COVID-19 WITH REFERENCE TO AHMEDNAGAR DISTRICT: A RESEARCH AGENDA. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/-. Rosario, A. (2021) ‘The Background of Artificial Intelligence applied to Marketing’, Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 20(6). Sandhusen, R.L. (2000) Marketing. Barrons.