Spiritual Capital and Ethical Value Orientation as Determinants of Marketing Competitiveness beyond AI Adoption
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30741/wiga.v16i2.2056Keywords:
Spiritual Capital, AI in Marketing, Ethical Value Orientation, Integrity Marketing, Marketing Competitiveness, Online Furniture SMEs JeparaAbstract
The rapid shift toward digital marketing places furniture SMEs in Jepara Regency in an increasingly competitive online arena. Grounded in Resource-Advantage Theory, this study examines the influence of spiritual capital and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in marketing-on-marketing competitiveness, mediated by ethical value orientation and integrity marketing. Although AI adoption and ethical marketing have been widely studied, prior literature predominantly investigates them in isolation and lacks an explicit framework explaining how spiritual and ethical values convert technological tools into sustainable market advantage in craft-based SME exporters. Data were collected from 187 owners, managers, and marketing staff of online furniture SMEs and analyzed using SEM-PLS. The results reveal that spiritual capital significantly and directly enhances ethical value orientation, integrity marketing, and marketing competitiveness. In contrast, AI in marketing has no direct impact on competitiveness, but its effect is fully mediated by ethical value orientation. Meanwhile, integrity marketing does not serve as a significant mediator in the model. Practically, these findings imply that online furniture SMEs should not focus solely on acquiring AI technology. Instead, managers are advised to prioritize building an ethical value orientation as the critical organizational capability that converts digital tools and spiritual assets into long-term market differentiation in global trade.
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