International Journal of Advertising – Special Issue ¡°Leveraged Marketing Communications¡±

Leveraged Marketing Communications (LMC) refers to brand-building strategies that are ¡°an intentional pairing of a brand to benefit from the associations the target audience has with thtions that ultimately enhance brand awareness and evaluations. In the past decades, psychological studies have increasingly investigated association processes in theoretical contexts such as associative networks, schema theory, dual-process models, affect transfer, classical conditioning, and attribution theory.

LMC research conceptually integrates findings from diverse literatures into a theoretically coherent story unique to marketing and advertising. For example, LMC uses conventional information processing and meaning transfer models to show how marketing communications could strengthen or weaken brand–entity leverage through factors such as format, length, attractiveness, and celebrity endorsement.

In this special issue, under the broad rubric of LMC, we aim to feature recent works examining the association between brands and entities, ideas, and contexts. We particularly welcome papers combining theory and practice to offer new perspectives to help academics, practitioners, and policymakers better understand and apply LMC research.

We welcome submissions on topics addressing LMC. Suggested topics include but are not limited to:

¡¤         Celebrity Endorsements

¡¤         Sponsorship

¡¤         Product Placements

¡¤         Branded Entertainment/Branded Content

¡¤         Cause-Related Marketing

¡¤         Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

¡¤         Cobranding