Journal of Intelligent Marketing Management

Journal of Intelligent Marketing Management

The Dark Side of Using Artificial Intelligence in Digital Marketing: Exploring the Ethical Challenges

Document Type : Excerpt from master's thesis

Authors
Mona Jami Pour 1
Seyyed Mohammad Bagher Jafari 2
Mahsa Sarvarian 3
1 Business Department, Management and Accounting Faculty, Hazrat-e Masoumeh University (HMU), Qom, Iran
2 Faculty of Accounting and Management, Farabi Campus, University of Tehran, Qom, Iran
3 Department of Management, Faculty of Management and Accounting , Hazrat-e Masoumeh University, Qom, Iran
JABM.3.2.15564.3515415146
Abstract
Today, advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have brought about significant changes in various business sectors, especially digital marketing, making it a top priority for managers. AI assists marketers in creating targeted content, predicting channel effectiveness, analyzing customer behavior, and personalizing their experience. While AI is experiencing rapid growth in marketing, its application comes with numerous challenges, and limited research has focused on uncovering its dark sides in this field. On the other hand, an analysis of the ethical challenges of AI application in digital marketing within our country is an undeniable necessity, given the different cultural and social context. Therefore, this research aims to identify and prioritize the ethical challenges of using AI in digital marketing to help managers mitigate the negative consequences of such technological initiatives. The current research is applied in terms of its objective and follows a mixed-methods approach for data collection. In the qualitative section, through ten semi-structured interviews and a thematic analysis approach, the ethical challenges of AI application in digital marketing have been identified and categorized into six main categories and 37 indicators. In the quantitative section, these challenges have been prioritized using the Shannon entropy method. The identified categories, in order of priority, are: AI algorithm discrimination and bias, lack of transparency and reliability of AI algorithms, destructive impacts on individuals, invasion of privacy, incorrect content, and undesirable economic consequences. A review of the literature in this field reveals that despite the growing interest of managers and researchers in leveraging AI in marketing, a holistic approach to addressing its dark sides has been neglected. Therefore, the most significant contribution of this research is to fill this gap in the literature by analyzing the ethical aspects of the dark sides of AI in digital marketing within the cultural-social context of Iran and prioritizing them. This provides practical insights into the challenges of AI application in digital marketing and helps policymakers and decision-makers in the cultural and technological sectors adopt strategies to mitigate the negative aspects of such technologies.
Keywords
Artificial Intelligence
Digital Marketing
Ethics
Privacy
Shannon Entropy

Subjects

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  • Receive Date 17 June 2025
  • Revise Date 07 August 2025
  • Accept Date 16 August 2025