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

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

Carlos Diaz Ruiz, Hanken School of Economics

Sofia Ulver, Lund University

James Pamment, Lund University

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

Potential topics

• Whether and how programmatic advertising funds fake news
• How do the recommender algorithms amplify incendiary content
• How can AI-generated content be used to spread disinformation
• Do the monetization schemes of the creator economy reward polarization
• How do influence operations exploit marketing infrastructures
• What initiatives and interventions can strengthen societal resilience to disinformation
• What forms of platform governance can protect liberal deliberative democracies
• What methodologies, including Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT), can be used to investigate disinformation on AdTech and social media

Timeline

• September 15, 2026: Manuscript deadline