“Transformative AI in Online Markets: Development, Impact, and the Road Ahead”
DETAILS
Call for Papers – Special Issue: “Transformative AI in Online Markets: Development, Impact, and the Road Ahead”
Journal: Information & Management
Publisher: Elsevier
Impact Factor: 8.2 | CiteScore: 17.5
Submission deadline: 1 June 2026
This special issue explores how artificial intelligence—especially “transformative AI”—is reshaping online markets and digital platforms, from algorithm design and consumer behaviour through to operational optimisation, business‑model innovation, and socio‑economic impact. It invites information‑systems and digital‑commerce scholars to examine the technical, managerial, and social ramifications of AI in online markets spanning e‑commerce, marketplaces, digital platforms, and algorithmic commerce.
Why this issue matters
Online markets have become the backbone of the digital economy, and AI now mediates core functions such as search, recommendation, pricing, content generation, and fraud detection, increasingly determining who sees what, when, and at what price.
“Transformative AI” is defined as AI that has the potential to drastically reshape industries, labour markets, and societal structures, rather than merely automating existing tasks.
Yet alongside opportunities sit significant ethical, governance, and explainability challenges, including bias, opacity, surveillance, and power asymmetries between platforms, consumers, and sellers, making this a critical research agenda for the IS community.
Core themes and research topics
The special issue welcomes technical, empirical, behavioural, and design‑science work at individual, group, organisational, or societal levels. Key topic areas include:
Transformative AI models and algorithms
Novel AI and ML architectures that reconfigure search, discovery, and transaction flows in online markets.
Human–AI interaction in digital commerce
How consumers and sellers interact with AI assistants, chatbots, recommendation agents, and generative‑AI tools in online platforms.
Operational optimisation with AI
AI‑driven optimisation of inventory, logistics, dynamic pricing, and fraud detection in online marketplaces.
Impact on consumer behaviour and platform design
How AI changes choice‑making, trust, perceived fairness, and privacy behaviours and what this implies for platform‑design principles.
Personalisation and recommendation systems
AI‑driven personalisation engines and multi‑armed‑bandit‑style recommendation systems in e‑commerce and social‑shopping settings.
Generative AI in e‑commerce
Use of generative models for product descriptions, ads, virtual assistants, and livestream‑selling experiences.
Business‑model innovation
New AI‑integrated marketplace models, subscription‑based AI services, and data‑as‑a‑service architectures.
Responsible, explainable, and ethical AI
Mechanisms for bias mitigation, fairness, transparency, accountability, and explainability in AI‑enabled online markets.
Guest editors
Prof. Hillol Bala, Indiana University, USA
Dr. Yue (Katherine) Feng, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
Prof. Xin Li, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
Submission details
Submission platform: Information & Management via Elsevier’s submission system:
https://submit.elsevier.com/INFMAN (or via the journal’s Editorial Manager)When submitting, select article type “VSI: Transformative AI” so the manuscript is routed to the special issue.
Timeline highlights:
Submission system opens: 1 March 2026
Submission deadline: 1 June 2026 (rolling processing)
All submissions undergo double‑blind review under the journal’s standard procedures.
This special issue is ideal for information‑systems, digital‑platform, marketing, and AI‑ethics scholars who wish to contribute to a deeper understanding of how AI transforms the very foundations of online markets and digital commerce.
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