AI and Integrated Marketing Communication Tools to Promote, Educate and Explain the Benefits of Sustainability and the Hydrogen Economy: The Cases of Cyprus and Peru

Purpose: This study investigates how Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enhanced Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) can accelerate the adoption of hydrogen technology in two contrasting national contexts—Cyprus and Peru. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative conceptual research design is employed, structured around a four-phase analytical framework that integrates IMC theory, behavioral psychology, and AI-driven marketing technologies. A 'most-different systems' comparative strategy underpins the case selection. Findings: The proposed AI-IMC Nexus framework demonstrates that the primary barrier to hydrogen adoption is communicative rather than purely technological. AI tools—including predictive analytics, programmatic advertising, and natural language processing—can operationalize the Mere Exposure Effect to reduce stakeholder anxiety and build informed acceptance. The Strategic Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning (STP) model, when AI-enhanced, enables real-time micro-segmentation tailored to distinct socio-economic contexts. Research limitations/implications: As a conceptual study, the framework requires empirical validation through primary data collection, including expert focus groups and pilot communication projects. Practical implications: The study provides a scalable, context-specific communication roadmap for policymakers and energy sector practitioners seeking to deploy hydrogen technologies in divergent regulatory and economic environments. Originality/value: This paper offers the first interdisciplinary synthesis of AI-driven IMC and energy transition communication, grounded in behavioral psychology, within a comparative framework spanning an EU island economy and an emerging South American market.