Our study is the first one to look at how well messages written by artificial intelligence can be used to book appointments compared to humans when examining the approach phase of the Dupinski’s B2B sales process in an international context. We found that a message written by artificial intelligence is already equally effective in comparison to human beings in converting sales meetings. Furthermore, we found that while humans are significantly better at creating emails with general arguments, ChatGPT is equally effective at writing messages as human beings with a specific segmented message. The results show that artificial intelligence is capable of writing very human-like text even in a real business context, which has strong managerial implications. We conclude by suggesting exploring other possible phases of the international B2B sales process that could be streamlined using AI.

Managerial decision-makers are confronted with an increasing amount of information that has the potential to enhance strategic decision-making. However, an overwhelming amount of information leads to information overload, challenging their cognitive capabilities and adversely affecting decision quality. This study explores the impact of information overload on decision quality in international investment decisions, examining how perceived distance and the incorporation of artificial intelligence advice influence this relationship. Utilizing a sample of 625 participants, our findings indicate that information overload affects decision quality, with perceived distance intensifying this negative effect. However, integrating AI advice emerges as a significant mitigator, substantially improving decision quality by counteracting the effects of information overload. This research contributes to the international business literature by empirically demonstrating the adverse effects of information overload and perceived distance on decision quality and the efficacy of AI advice in alleviating these challenges, thereby enhancing international investment decision-making.

Over the last decades, research in international and product diversification has been extensive, yet limited attention has been given to the preference of firms between these options and the information processing of managers during this decision-making process. This study addresses this gap by further exploring how experiential knowledge can be substituted by information provision via artificial intelligence. Utilizing an experimental approach and a sample of 584 U.S.-based participants with management experience, our findings indicate a managerial preference for international diversification over product diversification, driven by perceptions of higher investment attractiveness. Furthermore, AI advice was found to reduce the investment gap between related and unrelated diversification strategies. Additionally, the impact of AI was more pronounced for product diversification compared to international diversification, suggesting that experiential knowledge is more likely to be substituted by AI-provided information in the decision-making process for product diversification. This study contributes to international business literature by integrating information processing theory into the current literature on diversification strategies, highlighting AI's potential to enhance strategic decision-making. The results underscore the need for further empirical research on AI's role in managerial cognition and decision-making processes in diversified business contexts.