From context to emotion : A multi-level analysis of agentic AI adoption in marketing and sales through the ACE model

Sammanfattning

This thesis examines the factors shaping individual willingness to adopt Agentic AI (AAI) in marketing and sales within the European context. As AAI is still an emerging and relatively underexplored technology, the study addresses a gap in the literature by investigating how organisational conditions, individual perceptions, and emotional responses influence adoption in practice. The research adopts an exploratory qualitative design based on 11 semi-structured interviews with professionals from firms across different European industries. The data were analysed thematically and used to develop the AAI Context-Emotion ACE Model, an original framework that integrates macro-level contextual factors with micro-level cognitive and emotional mechanisms. The findings suggest that AAI adoption is influenced by the immaturity of the technology, organisational readiness, regulatory pressure, and market dynamics, as well as by perceived risk, effort expectancy, and performance expectancy. These factors give rise to two contrasting emotional orientations: scepticism, rooted in uncertainty and operational concern, and enthusiasm, driven by expectations of efficiency, strategic value, and growth. In addition, the study identifies three individual modifiers – age, professional role, and personal traits – that shape how AAI is interpreted and evaluated within organisations. Overall, the thesis demonstrates that AAI adoption is not only a structural or technological process, but also a deeply human and emotional one, shaped by the interaction between context and individual interpretation.