Strategic Use of AI Tools to Enhance Customer Emotional Intelligence and Drive Engagement in Digital Marketing

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into digital marketing is fundamentally reshaping how brands perceive, interpret, and respond to consumer emotions. This paper investigates how strategically deployed AI tools—specifically sentiment analysis, predictive analytics, conversational AI (chatbots), customer journey mapping, and personalization engines—can systematically cultivate customer emotional intelligence (EI), defined as a consumer's capacity to recognize, process, and respond to emotional cues embedded in brand interactions. Drawing on a synthesis of multidisciplinary literature spanning marketing theory, behavioral psychology, and AI-enabled consumer research, this study develops a conceptual framework that positions customer EI as a critical mediator linking AI-driven marketing strategies to three dimensions of customer engagement: emotional (brand trust and affinity), behavioral (purchase loyalty and repeat interaction), and social (advocacy and co-creation). The framework advances current theory by reframing AI not merely as a tool for operational efficiency, but as an enabler of emotionally resonant brand experiences that foster meaningful, long-term consumer relationships. Implications for marketing practitioners and researchers are discussed, along with directions for future empirical validation.