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

Jhih-Syuan (Elaine) Lin, National Chengchi University

Chen Lou, Nanyang Technological University

This special issue examines influencer advertising as an evolving interactive system shaped by technological advances, platform algorithms, and changing consumer expectations. The field has shifted from viewing influencers as isolated persuasion sources to understanding them as components within human-machine systems where outcomes emerge from interactions among influencers, platforms, algorithms, and audiences.

The special issue addresses both opportunities and risks in influencer advertising. While new technologies enable brand engagement, influencer advertising also presents boundary conditions and unintended consequences, including concerns about deceptive practices, consumer vulnerability, and well-being impacts, particularly within increasingly AI-mediated ecosystems.

The journal invites original research that theoretically and empirically examines how and when influencer advertising succeeds or fails, with particular emphasis on work integrating contemporary technological contexts and rigorous methodology across consumer behavior, technology innovation, industry development, negative effects, and global trends.

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

Potential topics

• eWOM, social proof, and interactive persuasion dynamics in influencer advertising
• Persuasion processes and boundary conditions
• Emotional engagement, (trans)parasocial interaction, and relational dynamics in influencer content
• Trust, authenticity, and credibility calibration across influencer types
• Unintended and counter-persuasive effects
• AI-mediated and synthetic persuasion agents
• Immersive and extended realities in influencer advertising
• Platform affordances and algorithmic amplification of influencer content
• Interactive commerce and creator-led retail ecosystems (e.g., live streaming, social shopping, short-form video)
• Influencer advertising as a profession and creator-economy dynamics
• Disclosure, regulation, and governance as interactive design challenges
• Measurement, attribution, and performance evaluation in influencer advertising
• Brand–influencer–platform–AI relationship management and governance
• The dark side of interactive and AI-mediated influencer persuasion
• Influencer fatigue, burnout, and long-term relational consequences
• Consumer vulnerability, well-being, and societal implications
• Long-term influencer partnerships in interactive and AI-enabled media
• Influencers, activism, and social or political causes
• Diversity, representation, and inclusion in influencer advertising
• Global and non-Western contexts as theory-generating sites
• Future directions in hybrid, immersive, and automated influencer campaigns

Timeline

• December 31, 2026: Manuscript deadline

Raffaele Filieri, Audencia Business School

Elmira Djafarova, Northumbria University

Margot Racat, IDRAC Business School

Veronika Keller, Szechenyi Istvan University

Rickard Enstroem, MacEwan University

Social media influencer marketing faces uncertainty amid algorithm fatigue, regulatory scrutiny, declining consumer trust, and AI-generated influencers. Traditional theoretical frameworks struggle to explain how AI content, algorithmic curation, and synthetic personas reshape influence dynamics.

This special issue examines whether traditional influencer marketing is ending or undergoing paradigm shift in how influence is constructed, monetized, and governed. It explores how authenticity, artificial intelligence, and algorithmic mediation intersect to reshape influence practices while addressing emerging regulatory frameworks.

The issue welcomes empirically grounded contributions from multiple disciplines including strategy, media studies, consumer behavior, and technology management. It particularly encourages interdisciplinary, globally inclusive research examining non-Western contexts, emerging platforms, and underrepresented influencer communities.

Appel publié par Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences / Revue Canadienne des Sciences de l Administration. Voir l'appel sur le site de l'éditeur. Fiche de l'appel sur kerostig.

Potential topics

• Trust, credibility, and authenticity in digital influence
• Algorithmic mediation, platform governance, and market structure
• Consumer resistance, fatigue, and agency
• Virtual influencers, AI, and synthetic content
• Cultural, generational, and global perspectives on influence
• Professionalization, labor, and monetization in the creator economy
• Ethics, power, and the dark side of influencer marketing
• Expanding contexts of influence in B2B, nonprofit, and public sectors
• Strategic navigation of platforms, algorithms, and AI tools across global-local digital markets
• Authenticity and trust negotiation in activism, sustainability, and cause-related marketing

Timeline

• December 31, 2026: Submission Deadline
• March 1, 2027: Final Decisions and Revisions

Eunju Ko, Yonsei University

Teresa Sádaba, ISEM Fashion Business School, Universidad de Navarra

Carmen Valor, Universidad Pontificia Comillas

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

Potential topics

• How can influencers disclose data-driven targeting practices while preserving transparency and trust?
• How do AI-generated avatars and human influencers co-create content, and what balance sustains authenticity and aspiration?
• In what ways does AI-enabled personalization enhance luxury advertising without undermining exclusivity and symbolic value?
• How do AI-powered influencers and proliferating collaborations shape consumer trust, differentiation, and purchase decisions?
• How do platform-specific affordances (e.g., Instagram, TikTok, WeChat) shape storytelling, authenticity cues, and parasocial ties?
• How do different types of influencers (celebrity, micro, virtual, AI-generated) shape perceptions of authenticity, aspiration, and brand legitimacy?
• In what ways does the proliferation of influencer collaborations affect consumer trust, attention, and differentiation in luxury markets?
• How do AI-powered tools for influencer identification, personalization, and content creation alter the dynamics of luxury influence?
• How do influencers interact with broader institutional forces, such as regulation, ethics, and sustainability expectations?
• Under what conditions do sustainable luxury communications operate effectively, and why?
• How do sustainable advertising strategies influence consumers beyond purchase—shaping post-purchase satisfaction, long-term loyalty, and lifestyle adoption?
• How can luxury advertising integrate sustainability (e.g., recycled materials, fair labor) without diluting aspirational value?
• Which execution formats (storytelling, branded content, live events, influencer collaborations) most effectively balance marketing and societal objectives?
• How can luxury brands use communication to encourage minimalist consumption ('buy less but better') while maintaining aspiration and desirability?

Timeline

• August 31, 2026: Manuscript submission deadline for direct submissions to the International Journal of Advertising

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

Kacy Kim, Bryant University

Junghoon Moon, Seoul National University

Lamberto Zollo, University of Milan

Riccardo Rialti, University of Siena

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

Potential topics

• Sustainability and pro-social appeals in food advertising (e.g., eco-friendly packaging, plant-based diets, food waste reduction)
• AI and digitalization in food advertising (e.g., personalization, predictive analytics for targeting, generative AI in creative production, AI–human collaboration)
• Virtual influencers and AI-driven brand ambassadors
• Algorithmic bias, fairness, and inclusivity in AI-powered targeting
• Data privacy, trust, and consumer acceptance of AI-driven food advertising
• Influencer and social media advertising (e.g., Mukbang, celebrity chefs, and co-creation, live-stream commerce)
• Immersive and experiential food advertising (e.g., AR/VR tasting, hybrid in-store activations, branded pop-ups)
• Sensory and symbolic persuasion (e.g., ASMR, soundscapes, anthropomorphism, emojis, playful cues)
• Consumer behavior and psychology in food advertising
• Consumer identity, culture, and lifestyle in food advertising (e.g., dietary regimes, cultural and religious values)
• Aspirational and status signaling in food advertising (e.g., luxury foods, fine wines, gourmet products)
• Consumer response to nutritional labeling (e.g., interpretation of health claims, wellness framing, and persuasive effects)
• Ethics, responsibility, and transparency in food advertising (e.g., trust, greenwashing, health-washing, targeting vulnerable consumers)
• Regulatory issues in food advertising (e.g., advertising to children, health and sustainability claims)
• Advertising strategy and effectiveness
• Cross-cultural and global perspectives in food advertising

Timeline

• July 1, 2026: Direct submission window opens
• August 31, 2026: Full paper submission deadline