Including the Audience in Integrated Marketing Communication and Branding: Social Media, Gaming, and Beyond

Digital media has changed the consumer-brand relationship. Traditionally, brands were created by professional marketers. Now, advertising is a collaborative effort that includes the audience. Social media allows audience members to respond to promotional materials in real time, and consumers can generate their own messages and memes regarding a variety of products, services, and issues of interest. This democratization of advertising facilitates a communication environment that is both hyper-personalized and multifaceted. As organizations lose control of their brands, the door has opened to a new polycentric communication environment that fosters influencer marketing and increases the importance of word-of-mouth communication in a variety of contexts. Against this background, the purpose of this Research Topic is to explore the wide range of perils and possibilities that this expanded frontier in communication provides, with particular emphasis on the ways that audiences can participate in integrated marketing communications (IMC).

Contributions to the Research Topic can explore how a polycentric and hyper-personalized media environment affects audience member engagement and perceptions of brands and issues. Articles can also explore the message strategies and communication tactics that audience members contribute to the IMC process. In addition to dealing with social scientific topics, contributions can investigate the ethical and legal issues related to audience participation in advertising to their own peers. Although audience inclusion in IMC has some potential drawbacks, it can also generate more meaningful consumer information. Therefore, a variety of perspectives on the topic of audience participation in IMC are welcomed.

As the goal of this article collection is to increase the scope of our knowledge of how audience members participate in the IMC and branding process and the influence of this increased participation on advertising and promotional efforts, the scope of the Research Topic is wide. The editors welcome articles that take a social scientific perspective as well as critical and cultural perspectives. Audience participation can be studied in a variety of contexts including mobile, digital, and social media environments; gaming, virtual, and augmented reality; events and social gatherings; or any other context where audiences might shape promotional communication and branding. In addition to exploring how audience participation shapes IMC, articles can also explore how increased audience participation in branding influences consumers. Interdisciplinary contributions are encouraged.