The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) application on marketing performance in small and medium-sized enterprises in Hanoi

Abstract

Type of the article: Research ArticleAbstractThe rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation has significantly reshaped marketing activities, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating under resource constraints. In emerging economies such as Vietnam, empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of AI application in marketing remains limited and fragmented. Therefore, this study aims to examine the impact of AI application on marketing performance of SMEs in Hanoi, Vietnam. The study applies the resource-based view (RBV) and dynamic capabilities theory (DCT) as the theoretical foundation to analyze the relationships between AI-enabled marketing capabilities and marketing performance. The study used quantitative research through a survey of 237 SME managers and employees in Hanoi. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS and structural equation modeling (SEM).The findings indicate that AI application in customer data analytics positively affects market performance (β = 0.219, p < 0.01), customer performance (β = 0.186, p < 0.05), financial performance (β = 0.174, p = 0.050), and communication performance (β = 0.620, p < 0.001). AI-enabled marketing personalization is positively associated with market, financial, and communication performance. However, customer performance showed a statistically significant negative coefficient. In addition, AI-based marketing automation and interactive customer communication demonstrate varying effects across different dimensions of marketing performance. The study contributes to the literature on AI-driven marketing by providing empirical evidence from an emerging economy context and offering managerial implications for SMEs seeking to improve marketing effectiveness through AI adoption.