AI marketing & brand relationships: A qualitative study about consumer-brand relationships, personalized marketing and the personalization-privacy paradox

Sammanfattning: Thesis purpose: to explore what influence consumer-brand relationships may have on consumers’ perceptions of personalized marketing and the personalization-privacy paradox. Methodology: to understand each of the respondents' different perceptions of the thesis’ purpose and research question, a relativist and social constructionist approach were applied. Theoretical perspective: in order to fulfill its purpose, the study looks at personalized AI marketing and the personalization-privacy paradox by examining it in relation to the theory of consumer-brand relationships. Empirical data: the study has been constructed with a qualitative design where the empirical material has been collected through 10 semi-structured in-depth interviews. Conclusion: the study indicates that there is a connection between consumer-brand relationships, personalized marketing and the personalization-privacy paradox. Furthermore, personalized marketing from a brand to which a strong brand-relationship exists is regarded as more positive and can even strengthen the relationship. The propensity to disclose data to favorite brands is also higher. However, excessive personalized marketing and misused consumer data could damage even the strongest consumer-brand relationships.