Examining the Factors Affecting Marketers Willingness to Adopt AI Technologies for Marketing Campaigns in industrial Automation industry in Egypt

AbstractThe rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has opened new avenues in marketing, particularly in content creation and personalization. Despite global trends, the adoption of AI technologies in Egypt’s industrial automation sector remains limited and underexplored. This study aims to investigate the factors influencing marketers’ intention to adopt and use AI tools within this context. Drawing on an extended version of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2), the research incorporates Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC) as a mediating variable and Perceived Risk (PR) as a moderator to improve the model's contextual fit. A mixed-method approach was adopted, combining expert interviews and a structured survey of 400 professionals working in industrial marketing. Quantitative analysis using factor analysis, regression, mediation, and moderation techniques revealed that Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, and Facilitating Conditions significantly influence Behavioral Intention (BI). Furthermore, PBC was found to mediate the relationship between these predictors and intention, while PR significantly moderated their effect. Notably, Behavioral Intention was also a strong predictor of actual AI usage. These findings offer valuable theoretical insights by validating an extended UTAUT2 model in an emerging B2B market and provide actionable recommendations for marketers and policymakers to support responsible and strategic AI integration Keywords: AI adoption; Marketing campaign; perceived behavioral control; perceived risk; industrial marketing; Egypt