Examining research ethics considerations of a study on marketing creativity: for MBA students

Examining research ethics considerations of a study on marketing creativity: for MBA students

The notes examines the article of: Pagani, M. and Wind, Y. (2025) "Unlocking marketing creativity using artificial intelligence"  Journal of Interactive Marketing 60(1): 1-24.

What are (1) the research theme, (2) the research objectives, and (3) the research questions of the article?

The article's research focus and questions are as follows:

1.    Research Theme: The central theme is exploring how artificial intelligence (AI), including both nongenerative and generative AI, enhances marketing creativity by examining the dynamic interaction and synergy between computational (AI-driven) and human creative processes within marketing contexts.

2.    Research Objectives:

• To investigate how creative individuals, particularly artists, utilize AI in their creative work and how AI affects their creative experiences and processes.
• To assess and categorize a large dataset of AI systems and models regarding their creative capabilities and contributions.
• To develop and validate a conceptual framework that guides marketing executives in leveraging AI for enhancing marketing creativity.
• To bridge the research gap on AI’s impact on marketing creativity by providing empirical evidence and practical insights.

3.    Research Questions: While not explicitly listed as numbered research questions, the study implicitly addresses:

• How do creative individuals (especially artists) integrate and interact with AI technologies in their creative processes?
• How do nongenerative and generative AI systems differ in their applications and impact on creativity in marketing?
• What are the levels and clusters of creativity exhibited by existing AI systems and models evaluated through extensive datasets?
• How can AI-enabled creativity be conceptualized and strategically applied in marketing to inspire agile methods, augment human creativity, and foster unconventional thinking?
• What are the implications, challenges, and opportunities of integrating AI within marketing creativity and interactive marketing strategies?

These elements form the foundation of the study's design and guide the two empirical studies, framework development, and validation efforts.

 

Briefly describe the research methodology as well as the main research methods (both primary and secondary) of this article.

The article employs a conceptually driven and empirically derived research methodology structured into four main stages, combining both qualitative and quantitative approaches:

1.    Research Methodology:

• The study uses an exploratory, mixed-methods design, integrating qualitative research (interviews, open-ended questionnaires, phenomenological analysis) with large-scale quantitative content analysis of AI datasets.
• The methodology follows McCracken’s (1988) approach to structure the research process with iterative phases of data collection, analysis, framework development, and validation.

2.    Primary Research Methods:

• Study 1 (Demand Side): Exploratory personal interviews and open-ended questionnaires with 37 multidisciplinary artists (43% using generative AI) to understand how they use AI in creative processes. Three additional interviews with chief marketing officers validated these insights within marketing contexts.
• Qualitative data analysis used a phenomenological approach with independent coders to extract themes, structural topic modeling (STM) for thematic identification from text data, and Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC2015) software for linguistic-emotional-cognitive analysis. Speak AI software assessed user sentiment.

3.    Secondary Research Methods:

• Study 2 (Supply Side): Content analysis of a large longitudinal dataset of 1,036 AI systems (2015–2021) and 241,292 AI models (2022–2024) categorized into 35 tasks to assess AI systems’ and models’ creativity in marketing applications.
• A follow-up detailed analysis of a sample of 350 AI models was conducted for direct evaluation of novelty and usefulness.
• Interviews with AI system providers offered insights into design intent and marketing relevance.

4.    Framework Development and Validation:

• The insights from both studies fed into a conceptual framework for AI-enabled creativity.
• This framework was validated in three workshops and nine in-depth interviews involving senior marketing leaders and scholars to ensure practical applicability.

Overall, the research combines rich qualitative insights from creatives and marketing managers with extensive quantitative data analysis of AI systems to holistically understand AI's role in marketing creativity.

 

Discuss the main research ethics considerations of (1) the research objectives chosen, (2) the research methodology and the research methods involved.

The research ethics considerations in the article span three main areas: the research objectives, the methodology, and the research methods employed.

1.    Research Objectives:

• The study aims to explore how AI enhances creativity in marketing by examining human-AI interaction and AI’s creative capabilities. Ethically, this objective addresses the important contemporary issue of AI’s role in creative industries and marketing, a domain with significant social impact.
• The focus on understanding AI’s influence on human creativity respects the agency of individuals and seeks to improve marketing creativity without promoting AI as a replacement but rather as a complement to human creativity, which carefully navigates concerns about job displacement and autonomy.
• The objective to propose a responsible and strategic framework for AI use acknowledges potential ethical challenges (trust, bias, privacy) and advocates for cautious adoption, thus reflecting an ethical posture towards AI deployment in marketing.

2.    Research Methodology:

• The mixed methods design integrates qualitative and quantitative data with a phenomenological approach emphasizing participants’ lived experiences. This respects the subjective perspectives and voices of creatives, ensuring their experiences are authentically represented, a vital ethical consideration when researching human creativity and technology use.
• Validation through workshops with diverse stakeholders (academic scholars, marketing executives) adds transparency and rigor, reinforcing ethical standards in research reliability and applicability.
• Use of secondary large datasets on AI systems and models does not raise direct ethical concerns regarding human subjects, but the study is mindful of biases and explainability issues inherent in the AI technologies analyzed, indicating ethical sensitivity to technological impact.

3.    Research Methods:

• Primary data collection includes in-depth interviews and open-ended questionnaires with artists and marketing managers. Ethical considerations include informed consent, confidentiality, and respectful engagement with participants, particularly as some questions delve into personal creative processes and professional practices.
• The selection of participants from an international artist community and marketing leaders reflects ethical inclusiveness and diversity.
• The qualitative analysis employed independent coders and rigorous audit trails to ensure validity and reduce bias, illustrating ethical research conduct in data analysis.
• Use of automated tools such as STM and LIWC for text analysis, and sentiment analysis software, is ethically appropriate since these tools are applied to anonymized textual data, minimizing privacy risks.
• The study acknowledges the ethical challenges with AI in creative processes, including trust, explainability, bias, and data privacy risks, thus demonstrating reflexivity and ethical awareness for future AI implementation in marketing.

In summary, the research carefully considers ethical implications by choosing socially relevant objectives, applying rigorous and transparent methodologies, ensuring participant respect and data integrity, and by explicitly recognizing ethical challenges associated with AI in marketing creativity.

Is the consideration of "informed consent" handled well in this study?

The provided excerpts from the study do not explicitly detail the procedures or protocols regarding informed consent for participants involved in the research, such as the 37 artists and the marketing managers interviewed. However, some indirect evidence suggests ethical attention to participant involvement:

• The study describes conducting exploratory personal interviews and administering open-ended questionnaires to artists, with participation being voluntary (artists "agreed to participate") and involving detailed personal insights into their creative practices with AI.
• The researchers emphasize the use of rigorous qualitative analysis with independent coders and maintaining an audit trail for transparency and reliability, indicating careful handling of data and ethical research standards.
• The involvement of international participants from diverse cultural backgrounds implies an awareness of ethical inclusiveness and careful participant engagement.
• The study also conducted validation workshops and further interviews with senior marketing leaders, suggesting collaboration with professionals likely under formal organizational research protocols.

Despite these indicators of ethical rigor, there is no explicit mention in the excerpts of formal informed consent procedures, such as:

• How participants were informed about the purpose, risks, and benefits of the research,
• How confidentiality and anonymity were assured,
• Whether participants had the right to withdraw,
• How data was stored and used.

Given that the article was published in a reputable academic journal, it is likely that standard ethical procedures including informed consent were followed, but this is not documented in the excerpts provided.

In conclusion, while the study reflects careful and respectful participant engagement and rigorous methodology implying ethical conduct, explicit handling of informed consent is not detailed in the available text. Therefore, the consideration of informed consent appears to be adequately handled from an implicit ethical standpoint but is not clearly documented or discussed in the excerpts.

 

** the exercise is supported by chatpdf.com

A collection of blog notes on using chatgpt for research purpose.