Social Influencers: For Good and Ill – The Potential and Pitfalls of Social Influencer Marketing

Call for Papers
Social Influencers: For Good and Ill – The Potential and Pitfalls of Social Influencer Marketing
Journal: Journal of Marketing Management
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Submission Deadline: 15 June 2026

Overview
This special issue examines how social influencers, both human and virtual, are being used in social marketing campaigns to promote public health, sustainability, civic engagement, and other pro-social behaviors. It also explores the risks, including authenticity concerns, commercialization of social causes, ethical problems, and unintended negative effects. The issue aims to balance practical relevance with critical academic analysis.

Detailed Scope
The call invites work on three linked areas: processes of influence, audience reception and impact, and the production of social influencer campaigns. It is interested in psychological and cultural mechanisms, parasocial relationships, platform effects, campaign backfiring, audience well-being, trust, tokenism, influencer fatigue, recruitment and management of influencers, and how platforms, algorithms, and sponsorship models shape visibility. Examples include public health campaigns, sustainable lifestyles, cross-cultural comparisons, virtual influencers, and critical perspectives on authenticity and representation.

Submission Information
Manuscripts should be 8,000–10,000 words excluding tables, references, captions, footnotes, and endnotes. Authors must follow the journal’s submission guidelines carefully, include a Summary Statement of Contribution, and submit both a complete version and an anonymous version of the manuscript. The submission type should be Research Article, and authors must indicate that the paper is for a specific special issue during the submission process.

Guest Editors

• Gaëlle Ouvrein — Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.

• Sofie Vranken — University of Vienna, Austria.

• Brigitte Naderer — Medical University of Vienna, Austria.

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