Kacy Kim, Bryant University

Changju Kim, Ritsumeikan University

Hsuan-Ting Chen, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Yoon Hi Sung, Yonsei University

Influencer advertising has become a central form of brand communication, evolving beyond traditional supplementary social media tactics. Brands increasingly leverage influencers, creators, livestream hosts, virtual personalities, and AI-generated personas to communicate persuasive messages and build consumer relationships. The special issue examines influencer advertising as a distinctive form of persuasive communication, recognizing that its power stems from embedded messages in personal narratives, lifestyle content, entertainment, and creator-audience relationships, increasingly enhanced by AI and synthetic content.

The effectiveness of influencer advertising raises important concerns about unintended consequences. When consumers perceive influencer content as overly commercialized, deceptive, or inauthentic, it may generate skepticism and distrust. Emerging challenges including deepfakes, manipulated content, synthetic media, and privacy concerns highlight the need to examine both the persuasive power and potential harms of influencer advertising.

Appel publié par International Journal of Advertising. Lire l'appel complet sur le site de l'éditeur. Fiche de l'appel sur kerostig.

Potential topics

• Influencer advertising as a distinctive form of advertising and persuasive communication
• Influencers as advertising sources, endorsers, creators, brand partners, cultural intermediaries, and social influence agents
• Boundaries among authentic expression, commercial persuasion, sponsored content, branded entertainment, native advertising, electronic word-of-mouth, and public relations
• New theoretical frameworks for understanding influencer advertising
• Source credibility, expertise, authenticity, relatability, attractiveness, perceived similarity, and trustworthiness
• Influencer–brand fit, product fit, audience fit, and value congruence
• Message design, storytelling, humor, emotion, lifestyle appeals, visual execution, language, tone, and aesthetics
• Product demonstrations, reviews, tutorials, testimonials, livestreams, short-form videos, and experiential advertising formats
• Attitudes toward influencer ads, sponsored content, influencers, and brands
• Persuasion knowledge, skepticism, advertising recognition, advertising literacy, and resistance
• Parasocial and trans-parasocial relationships, emotional attachment, perceived intimacy, reciprocity, interaction, and co-creation
• Brand attitudes, purchase intentions, brand trust, brand equity, consumer loyalty, and long-term brand relationships
• Effects of influencer advertising across the customer journey and across product, service, nonprofit, health, public policy, and social cause contexts
• Virtual influencers, AI-generated influencers, synthetic creators, digital avatars, and AI-assisted content production
• Generative AI, deepfakes, synthetic media, and manipulated influencer content in advertising
• Personalized and tailored influencer advertising and consumer receptivity to personalized influencer messages
• Privacy concerns, perceived intrusiveness, surveillance concerns, consumer autonomy, and perceived control
• Livestream interaction, real-time persuasion, social commerce, and shoppable content
• Authenticity, identity, humanness, anthropomorphism, disclosure, and trust in synthetic or AI-assisted influence
• Conditions under which influencer advertising backfires, including distrust, avoidance, influencer fatigue, and perceived inauthenticity
• Hidden persuasion, sponsorship disclosure failures, deceptive advertising, misinformation, and corrective interventions
• Deepfakes, manipulated influencer content, synthetic media, fabricated endorsements, and AI-generated claims
• Consumer well-being, vulnerable audiences, representation, diversity, sustainability, regulation, and public trust

Timeline

• January 15, 2027: GMC Tokyo 2027 submission deadline
• July 22, 2027: GMC Tokyo 2027 Conference
• September 1, 2027: Special issue submission window opens
• September 30, 2027: Special issue submission deadline

Kirsten Cowan, University of Edinburgh

Yang Feng, University of Florida

Seth Ketron, University of St. Thomas

Aidin Namin, Loyola Marymount University

Appel publié par Journal of Advertising Research. Voir l'appel sur le site de l'éditeur. Fiche de l'appel sur kerostig.

Potential topics

• How advertisers can effectively leverage AI-generated content and zero-click searches to reach their target audiences
• The impact of AI-generated content on search results and consumer decision-making
• The evolution of SEO strategies in response to AI-driven search algorithms
• The role of AI in shaping consumer journeys and experiential marketing
• How AI has shifted and/or will shift psychological mechanisms in search, including but not limited to empowerment, attention, memory, processing styles, and cognitive bias
• How social, cultural, and other contextual differences might lead different consumer segments or markets to react to and utilize AI differently in search
• The role of AI in relation to marketer-controlled vs. nonmarketer-controlled sources of information (e.g., ads or website content vs. customer reviews or social media) and consumers' relative reliance on each
• The effects of AI on speed, locus of control, and effort in consumer search
• The potential for AI-driven advertising to enhance or undermine consumer trust and brand loyalty
• The impact of AI on ad pricing and revenue models, including the potential for more nuanced and contextual pricing strategies
• The role of AI in facilitating more personalized and relevant advertising search experiences, and the potential trade-offs with consumer privacy
• The need for new metrics and benchmarks to measure the effectiveness of AI-driven advertising campaigns, and the potential for AI to provide more granular and actionable insights into consumer behavior and preferences
• The potential for AI to create more intimate and human-like interactions with consumers
• The ethical implications of AI-driven search and advertising practices
• The future of search interfaces, including voice-activated, image-based, and multimodal search
• The interplay between AI-generated search experiences and consumer autonomy
• The implications of AI-driven search ecosystems for market competition and brand visibility
• The role of AI transparency and explainability in consumer trust and regulatory compliance
• The sustainability and environmental impact of AI-driven search and advertising ecosystems
• Cross-platform integration and continuity in AI-mediated consumer journeys
• How the reduced visibility of paid versus organic influence in conversational AI affects consumer understanding, disclosure, and trust in recommendations
• How the growing tendency to treat AI systems as social or companion-like partners might reshape the value of impressions, expectations of authenticity, and marketplace pricing for AI-mediated advertising interactions

Timeline

• June 1, 2026: Submission window opens
• September 7, 2026: Manuscript deadline