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

Veronica L. Thomas, Old Dominion University

Kendra Fowler, Youngstown State University

Influencer marketing has become central to brand communication strategies, but the field now stands at a critical juncture. Rapid technological changes including generative AI, synthetic influencers, evolving platform structures, and creator professionalization are fundamentally transforming the landscape, making many previously established assumptions potentially obsolete.

This special issue seeks research that transcends incremental contributions and instead examines how influence operates in contemporary contexts. The call invites scholars to adopt new theoretical frameworks, explore how technological and cultural shifts have altered influencer dynamics, and investigate emerging managerial challenges that will shape future advertising strategies.

Contributions should critically revisit core assumptions while avoiding simple replications of well-established findings. The journal welcomes theoretically grounded and methodologically rigorous work addressing evolving ecosystems, influencers as entrepreneurs, strategic implications, measurement innovation, and fundamental reconceptualizations of influencer theory.

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 are deepfakes and synthetic media altering how consumers process and engage with influencer marketing?
• How are influencers incorporating AI tools into content creation, audience management, and monetization, and how do these practices reshape influence?
• How do influencer collectives, creator economies, and platform governance structures reshape influence and value creation?
• What are the power dynamics that occur across influencer–brand–platform relationships?
• How has the influencer ecosystem changed, or how does it need to change, to address increased opportunities for influence beyond social media platforms or the use of AI tools to facilitate content creation?
• How is influence extending beyond traditional social media into commerce, entertainment, education, and hybrid digital physical spaces?
• How do influencers function as brands, entrepreneurs, and marketing organizations rather than merely as endorsers?
• What competitive threats do influencers face from other creators, platforms, AI generated content, or brand owned media?
• How do influencers adapt, reposition, or professionalize as their audiences, technologies, and revenue models evolve?
• How can influencers themselves be protected from exploitation, burnout, harassment, or reputational harm?
• How should firms design influencer strategies across different stages of the customer journey and across multiple platforms?
• How does influencer marketing effectiveness vary across cultural, geographic, and market contexts?
• What strategic trade-offs do firms face between reach, authenticity, control, and risk in influencer partnerships?
• How should brands evaluate influencer fit, performance, and spillovers in increasingly algorithmic environments?
• How do misinformation, manipulated content, and brand safety risks emerge and spread within influencer ecosystems?
• How can influence, engagement, and persuasion be more accurately measured in dynamic, algorithmically curated environments?
• How can field experiments and platform-based data be leveraged to enhance external validity?
• How can researchers capture spillover effects, halo effects, and cross-platform influence in influencer campaigns?
• What new metrics or analytical approaches are needed to study influence at scale and over time?
• How should advertisers select influencers to fit their specific strategic needs?
• Are existing influencer typologies still relevant, or are new classification frameworks needed?
• Where do existing theories of persuasion, social influence, and communication fall short in explaining consumer–influencer relationships today?
• How should foundational theories be extended or revised to account for AI-mediated and platform-driven influence?

Timeline

• July 1, 2026: Submission window opens
• October 12, 2026: Manuscript deadline