Being anxious about being left behind the AI age: influences of institutional environments on AI adoption in marketing

Despite AI's transformative potential, many firms remain cautious in adoption, often adopting a 'wait-and-see' approach. Existing studies often overlook the nuanced processes underlying firms' AI adoption decisions and assume that external environmental factors directly influence adoption behaviours. Grounded in institutional theory and the motivation-opportunity-ability (M-O-A) framework, this study examines how regulatory, normative, and cognitive environments shape organisational AI adoption in marketing through two key mechanisms: availability of resources (AoR) and top management participation (TMP), with environmental dynamism (ED) serving as a boundary condition. Using survey data from 285 managers in Chinese enterprises, this study employs structural equation modelling (SEM) to test hypotheses. The results confirm the mediating roles of AoR and TMP, and moderated-mediation analysis reveals that the mediating effect of AoR is stronger under conditions of high environmental dynamism. This study advances the theoretical understanding of AI adoption and offers practical implications for marketing executives navigating AI integration.