Assessing Gen Z Consumers’ Perceptions, Ethical Concerns, and Behavioral Intention Towards AI-Driven Marketing: Case of Anadolu and Woldia University Students.
Abstract
Nowadays, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has profoundly reshaped business and marketing practices, bringing both opportunities and challenges, particularly concerning ethics and privacy. The main objective of the study is to investigate Generation Z consumers’ perception of Ethical concern and behavioural intention towards AI-driven marketing. Particularly, it strives to measure Gen Z awareness level, trust level, perception, attitude, and ethical concern towards AI-driven marketing and its influence on the intention to engage with it. The data was collected from 275 students in Anadolu University, Turkey, and Woldia University, Ethiopia, who are aged between 17 to 30 years, using a convenience sampling technique, using a structured 5-point Likert scale questionnaire mainly. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics(Multiple regression) on JASP software. The major findings showed that all variables except demographic profile had a statistically significant influence on Gen Z behavioral intention towards AI-driven marketing. Specifically, awareness level, trust level, perception towards AI personalization, and attitude had a positive influence; on the contrary, ethical concern had a weak negative effect. Furthermore, the descriptive statistics revealed that Gen Z has high awareness of AI-driven marketing, a neutral view on its ethics, cautious trust, positive perceptions of personalization, and a generally positive yet careful intent to engage with AI-driven marketing efforts. Finally, the study recommends, to engage Gen Z effectively, organizations should ensure data transparency, use personalized AI marketing, build trustworthy AI systems, and raise awareness about AI benefits to reduce uncertainty.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54663/2182-9306.2025.v.13.n.281-317
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International Journal of Marketing, Communication and New Media
ISSN: 2182-9306
DOI: 10.54663/2182-9306
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