Special Issue of the

International Journal of Research in Marketing (IJRM)

In collaboration with the Marketing Science Institute (MSI)

“Generative AI, Synthetic Data, and Synthetic Respondents in Marketing Research”

Editors: Tulin Erdem (New York University) & Koen Pauwels (Northeastern University)

Conference Extended Abstract Deadline: June 30, 2025

Manuscript Submission Deadline: May 1, 2026

The International Journal of Research in Marketing (IJRM), in collaboration with the Marketing Science Institute (MSI), invites submissions for a special issue on the role of Generative AI (GenAI), synthetic data, and synthetic respondents in marketing research. This special issue is also associated with a dedicated MSI industry-academic conference, to be held in September 2025, focused on engaging a practitioner audience and providing early-stage academic work with applied feedback.

Advances in GenAI and synthetic data generation are reshaping the empirical foundation of marketing research. Synthetic respondents and AI-generated datasets offer powerful tools for simulating consumer behavior, accelerating insight generation, and expanding research scalability. These developments raise critical questions around confidence, accuracy, and precision, as well as around validity, generalizability, and inference—especially in the context of empirical testing and real-world application.

This special issue seeks empirical contributions that leverage synthetic data and synthetic respondents to explore substantive marketing problems; methodological work that advances tools, techniques, and frameworks for working with synthetic data; and theoretical research that enhances conceptual understanding of how GenAI may impact marketing insight and knowledge development.

Example topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

• Empirical evaluations of synthetic data accuracy, confidence levels, and model precision
• Applications of synthetic respondents in studying consumer behavior, targeting, or personalization
• Benchmarking studies comparing synthetic data with real-world datasets
• Methodological innovations in generating or validating synthetic data for marketing research
• Confidence intervals, uncertainty quantification, and model calibration in synthetic environments
• Statistical frameworks for evaluating generalizability and inference using synthetic data
• Use of GenAI to support replicable, scalable marketing research designs
• Experimental designs incorporating synthetic data or hybrid datasets
• Probabilistic modeling, diffusion models, and LLM-based data generation in marketing contexts
• Methodological considerations for using synthetic data in causal inference or field testing
• Theoretical implications of synthetic data for marketing knowledge development
• Conceptual frameworks explaining how synthetic reconstructions of behavior influence decisions

Submission Timelines

Conference Submissions

(Extended Abstracts – June 30, 2025)

Scholars are invited to submit extended abstracts to present at a dedicated MSI industry-academic conference. This event is designed to connect academic researchers with marketing practitioners, providing early feedback and highlighting work with high potential for practical impact.

Submit HERE

Special Issue Submissions

(Full Manuscripts – May 1, 2026)

Following the conference, authors may submit full manuscripts for consideration in this IJRM special issue. All submissions must demonstrate empirical rigor, methodological innovation, and conceptual clarity relevant to substantive marketing concerns.

Details coming soon.

Multidisciplinary and Methodological Breadth

We welcome interdisciplinary work that draws on marketing, computer science, behavioral science, statistics, economics, information systems, and related domains. The special issue is open to all methodological approaches, including but not limited to:

• Empirical modeling
• Machine learning and simulation
• Experimental and quasi-experimental designs
• Qualitative inquiry and interpretive approaches
• Field-based or industry-partnered research

About IJRM

• IJRM is the official journal of the European Marketing Academy, and the best international journal in marketing, positioned as the supreme outlet for the most innovative marketing papers.
• This special issue will be managed in this spirit.
• Papers targeting the special issue should be submitted through the IJRM submission system and will undergo a similar review process as regularly submitted papers.
• Important: when submitting your paper, please select as Article Type “SI: Synthetic”. We strongly encourage authors to submit before the deadline. If all authors submit on the same date, the competition for competent and constructive reviewers will be naturally more intense.
• All manuscripts must strictly follow the guidelines of the International Journal of Research in Marketing.
• The pre-publication PDF of accepted papers will be made available online ASAP.
• IJRM Managing Editor: Cecilia D Nalagon, cnalagon@ijrm.org

About MSI

• Founded in 1961, the Marketing Science Institute (MSI) is the longest-standing organization dedicated to aligning academic marketing research with business practice.
• MSI funds and shares research on critical marketing challenges to support evidence-based decision-making across sectors.
• MSI connects academic insight with the broader insights and analytics community, as part of the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF).
• The MSI/ARF Analytics/Forecasting 2025 Conference will bring together academic and industry leaders to explore cutting-edge marketing insights and foster actionable collaboration.