Organisational Roles and AI Adoption in Brand Communication

The rapid infusion of artificial intelligence (AI) into marketing has created uneven patterns of adoption within organisations, shaped heavily by hierarchical roles and the day-to-day realities of brand communication work. While strategists increasingly view AI as a catalyst for personalisation, forecasting and long-term brand value, operational executives often encounter the technology as a source of risk, uncertainty and implementation friction. This study investigates how these role-based perceptual differences influence intentions to adopt AI in Indian marketing teams. Using a cross-sectional survey of 408 professionals across strategists, analysts and executives, the research applies structural equation modelling to examine the effects of perceived benefits and concerns on adoption intentions, alongside the moderating role of job position and the mediating influence of future outlook. Results reveal sharp hierarchical gradients: strategists report significantly higher perceived benefits and lower concerns compared to analysts and executives, with job role exerting a strong moderating effect on the relationship between perceived usefulness and intention. Ethical and operational concerns, particularly among executives, show a robust negative association with adoption willingness, whereas future outlook demonstrates only weak mediation once role differences are accounted for. A role-aligned integration framework is proposed and validated, showing that targeted, position-specific interventions can meaningfully increase adoption readiness. By highlighting how internal role asymmetries shape AI uptake, this study contributes to technology acceptance theory in emerging markets and offers actionable pathways for organisations seeking cohesive, ethically grounded and scalable AI integration in brand communication. JEL Codes: M31, O33, D83