Article: Enhancing customer lifetime value through AI chatbot marketing: the mediating role of chatbot performance quality and perceived personalised customer value Journal: Middle East Journal of Management (MEJM) 2026 Vol.13 No.4 pp.478 - 501 Abstract: This study explores how intelligent chatbot marketing influences customer lifetime value, emphasising the mediating roles of chatbot performance quality and perceived personalised customer value. The research targets customers who have used their bank's chatbot services at least once, with data collected from 283 users of Iranian banks. Employing a descriptive-analytical method, data were obtained via a structured questionnaire and analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) through Smart-PLS software. Results show that AI chatbot marketing positively impacts chatbot performance dimensions - scalability, interoperability, and response speed - which significantly affect customers' perception of personalised value. Although chatbot performance does not directly influence customer lifetime value, it indirectly contributes by enhancing perceived personalised value. The study presents both a conceptual and empirical framework, underlining the strategic role of AI-driven marketing in strengthening customer retention. Its insights can aid bank managers in crafting effective digital strategies that enhance long-term customer engagement and loyalty. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Enhancing customer lifetime value through AI chatbot marketing: the mediating role of chatbot performance quality and perceived personalised customer value

Authors: Yousef MohammadKarimi; Mohammad Amin Torabi; Mohsen Akbari

Addresses: Department of Management, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran ' Department of Business Management, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran ' Department of Management, Faculty of Management, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran

Abstract: This study explores how intelligent chatbot marketing influences customer lifetime value, emphasising the mediating roles of chatbot performance quality and perceived personalised customer value. The research targets customers who have used their bank's chatbot services at least once, with data collected from 283 users of Iranian banks. Employing a descriptive-analytical method, data were obtained via a structured questionnaire and analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) through Smart-PLS software. Results show that AI chatbot marketing positively impacts chatbot performance dimensions - scalability, interoperability, and response speed - which significantly affect customers' perception of personalised value. Although chatbot performance does not directly influence customer lifetime value, it indirectly contributes by enhancing perceived personalised value. The study presents both a conceptual and empirical framework, underlining the strategic role of AI-driven marketing in strengthening customer retention. Its insights can aid bank managers in crafting effective digital strategies that enhance long-term customer engagement and loyalty.

Keywords: customer lifetime value; perceived personalised value; artificial intelligence chatbots; chatbot performance quality.

DOI: 10.1504/MEJM.2026.155082

Middle East Journal of Management, 2026 Vol.13 No.4, pp.478 - 501

Received: 19 May 2025
Accepted: 10 Jun 2025
Published online: 27 Jul 2026 *

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Title: Enhancing customer lifetime value through AI chatbot marketing: the mediating role of chatbot performance quality and perceived personalised customer value

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