Vilka etiska överväganden påverkar företag vid implementering av AI-driven digital marknadsföring inom e-handel? En kvalitativ forskningsstudie om hur etiska utmaningar hanteras och hur företag arbetar med att upprätthålla faktorer som dataskydd och transparens

Abstract

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has become more prominent, and today, the technology is a crucial tool in several industries. Digital marketing has AI as a central and integrated part of the work, and for many marketers, the technology is a part of everyday life. Along with the development of AI, questions arise as to whether the industry has sufficiently analyzed the ethical perspectives that come with its use. Our study aims to explore the ethical challenges identified by companies in connection with digital marketing and AI personalization, as well as how management works to achieve non-discrimination, transparency, and trust with their customers. The chosen research strategy for the study is based on interviews with various e-commerce companies that use AI in their daily operations. The analysis is based on theoretical perspectives and a thematic analysis of the empirical data, where common patterns and themes enable a broader understanding of the companies' operations and their challenges. The results show that AI is a significant part of today's e-commerce businesses, and although most of our respondents are aware of the ethical issues, there is still insufficient knowledge about ethical matters. This lack of knowledge means that AI implementation does not always occur in a sustainable way, either for the consumer or the companies. To take the consumer's privacy and ethical sustainability into account, further research and regulations are needed. Discrimination and bias exist in these algorithms today, and to reduce this, companies must act with transparency and clearly communicate their working methods and intentions to customers. In addressing ethical challenges and biases, both education and awareness play a vital role, and ethical guidelines for AI implementation and automated decision-making should be developed within the companies. Additionally, to ensure impartial treatment, diverse and representative data should be used in algorithms, and different campaigns should be tested within various customer groups. Regulations like GDPR and ethical directives should be a starting point for all companies, and a goal should be to secure capital to improve knowledge about responsible AI implementation. Care ethics emphasizes that communication should be adapted to consumers' varying abilities to perceive information, not just explain technical methods. Clarity and transparency should be prioritized in communication, with solutions such as visual guides to enhance understanding of AI's function. Systems should be developed to ensure that even third-party actors act with ethical principles in mind, which will make it easier to maintain long-term, transparent, and ethically sustainable relationships between companies and customers.