Influencer Relations: Detailing the Concept and Broadening the Perspective

30 April 2026: submission of abstracts of approx. 500 words (excluding references, tables etc.) for review by guest editors (email for submissions: [email protected])
15 May 2026: invitations to submit a full paper for review 
15 November 2026: submission of full papers for double-blind peer-review 

Introduction

Influencer Relations: Still a Vague Concept?

Influencer Relations is continuously gaining ground as an important field in communication management and PR. Modelled as a distinct instrument of communication management that parallels Media Relations (Borchers and Enke, 2021) as well as a strategic communication function for developing long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with influencers (Smith et al., 2023), Influencer Relations is imagined as a valuable addition, or even a counterweight (Wolf and Archer, 2018), to a dominant influencer marketing approach. But although these conceptual impulses have been around for a while, the concept of Influencer Relations is still remaining in a draft stage. At the same time, and despite a vivid interest in influencers as strategically substantial secondary stakeholders for organizations of all kinds (in the sense of Enke and Borchers, 2019), there has been a curious reluctance to apply core public relations theories and concepts to influencers.

While we have developed a detailed understanding of, for example, influencer-triggered persuasion processes, we know surprisingly little about how influencers can support communication managers in fulfilling their functions for organizations (for notable exceptions, see for example Davies and Hobbs, 2020 on dialogic theory; Reinikainen and Erkkilä, 2025 on listening; Sng et al., 2019 on crisis communication). What is more, research on influencers in PR and communication management has predominantly adopted a functional perspective. Studies in this paradigm have greatly advanced our understanding of communication managers’ involvement with influencers, providing valuable insights into how they build relationships with influencers (Pang et al., 2016; e.g., Archer and Harrigan, 2016), how they manage influencer campaigns (Borchers et al., 2025; e.g., Borchers and Enke, 2021; Duckwitz and Zabel, 2024), or how they can leverage influencers to enhance their CSR initiatives (Yang and Chuenterawong, 2025; e.g., Chen et al., 2023). In contrast, research that would explore Influencer Relations from the perspective of the three other central paradigms in PR and communication management—that is the critical-cultural, the social-reflective, and the co-creational paradigm (Winkler et al., 2021)—is scarce. This one-sidedness considerably narrows our understanding of Influencer Relations. 

Spelling Out Influencer Relations: Requested Contributions 

As a result, Influencer Relations remains both undertheorized and empirically underexplored. This special issue of the Journal of Communication Management aims at tackling these limitations. It seeks to gather both conceptual and empirical works that head in at least one of the following directions: 

• (Conceptually) elaborating the concept of Influencer Relations and/or
• Applying core concepts and theories from PR and communication management—from dialogue and reputation to relationship management and issues management to public opinion and public affairs etc.—to Influencer Relations and/or
• Exploring Influencer Relations from non-functional—that is, critical-cultural, social-reflective, and co-creational—perspectives. Note that suggested contributions do not need to follow all of these directions, but they should follow at least one. 

This special issue operates with a two-step process with abstracts and invited submissions after review of abstracts

30 April 2026: submission of abstracts of approx. 500 words (excluding references, tables etc.) for review by guest editors (email for submissions: [email protected])
15 May 2026: invitations to submit a full paper for review 
15 November 2026: submission of full papers for double-blind peer-review 
Late 2027: publication of Special Issue

References

Archer, C. and Harrigan, P. (2016), “Show me the money. How bloggers as stakeholders are challenging theories of relationship building in public relations”, Media International Australia, Vol. 160 No. 1, pp. 67–77. 
Borchers, N.S. and Enke, N. (2021), “Managing strategic influencer communication. A systematic overview on emerging planning, organization, and evaluation routines”, Public Relations Review, Vol. 47 No. 3, 102041. 
Borchers, N.S., Reinikainen, H., Mucundorfeanu, M. and Balaban, D.C. (2025), “Wanted: social media campaign support! A principal-agent study on political influencer marketing with party communicators from three EU countries”, Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 29 No. 5, 56/70. 
Chen, Y.-R.R., Hung-Baesecke, C.-J.F. and Cheng, Y. (2023), “When non-CSR-themed social media influencers endorse corporate CSR initiatives. Effects of publics’ perceived influencer characteristics and leadership”, Public Relations Review, Vol. 49 No. 1, p. 102288. 
Davies, C. and Hobbs, M. (2020), “Irresistible possibilities. Examining the uses and consequences of social media influencers for contemporary public relations”, Public Relations Review, Vol. 46 No. 5, p. 101983. 
Duckwitz, A. and Zabel, C. (2024), “For good’s sake. Strategic social media influencer communication in non-profit organizations”, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Vol. 18 No. 4, pp. 291–312. 
Enke, N. and Borchers, N.S. (2019), “Social media influencers in strategic communication. A conceptual framework of strategic social media influencer communication”, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 261–277. Pang, A., Tan, E.Y., Lim, R.S.-Q., Kwan, T.Y.-M. and Lakhanpal, P.B. (2016), “Building effective relations with social media influencers in Singapore”, Media Asia, Vol. 43 No. 1, pp. 56–68.
Reinikainen, H. and Erkkilä, T. (2025), “Channeling passion. Social media influencers as organizational listening agents”, Public Relations Review, Vol. 51 No. 2. 
Smith, B.G., Golan, G. and Freberg, K. (2023), “Influencer relations: Establishing the concept and process for public relations”, Public Relations Review, Vol. 49 No. 2, p. 102305. Winkler, P., Kretschmer, J. and Etter, M. (2021), “Between tragedy, romance, comedy and satire. Narratives of axiological progress in public relations”, Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 353–367. 
Wolf, K. and Archer, C. (2018), “Public relations at the crossroads. The need to reclaim core public relations competencies in digital communication”, Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 494–509. 
Yang, J. and Chuenterawong, P. (2025), “Turning the tide. Assessing environmental influencers’ effectiveness in mitigating CSR skepticism and fostering public engagement”, International Journal of Strategic Communication, pp. 1–30.

List of topic areas

• Social media influencers
• Communication management
• Public relations
• Theory
• Co-creation
• Critical research

Submissions Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jocm

Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see: journal’s author guidelines hyperlink Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to "Please select the issue you are submitting to".

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Key deadlines

Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 01/02/2026 
Closing date for manuscripts submission: 15/11/2026
Closing date for abstract submission: 30/04/2026 (email for submissions: [email protected])