AI-powered marketing strategies: elevating e-commerce brand recognition in Malaysia

Purpose With the growth of e-commerce activities, existing and startup businesses embrace this as an opportunity to enter the new digital market. The competitive market has pushed businesses to stay relevant in the market. However, the scenario that requires businesses to strategize their approach toward obtaining brand recognition by using advanced technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) is still in its infancy. Therefore, this study intends to investigate elements that contribute to brand recognition from the perspective of e-commerce users among Malaysians by considering AI elements such as big data analytics (BDA), machine learning (ML) and AI platforms (AIP). Design/methodology/approach A quantitative method is chosen for this study to obtain data from e-commerce users. A total of 504 responses were collected using random and convenience sampling techniques through online surveys. SPSS Statistics software and Excel were utilized to examine factors influencing brand recognition among e-commerce users. Findings The study reveals that AI-powered marketing strategies significantly enhance brand recognition with ML and AIP showing strong positive impacts. While BDA was not significant, ML and AIP were crucial, explaining 55.5% of the variance in brand recognition. These findings emphasize the importance of leveraging ML and AIP to predict consumer behavior, personalize experiences and optimize marketing strategies for improved engagement and brand recall. Originality/value This study reveals AIP’s and ML’s critical roles in personalizing experiences and optimizing strategies, while BDA’s limited impact emphasizes the need for actionable insights. The findings guide e-commerce brands to invest in AIP and ML for competitive advantage, customer engagement and brand loyalty, addressing emerging market challenges and consumer behavior intricacies.