Spheres of influence: How influencers impact society
这篇特刊社论提出了“影响力圈层”框架，从消费市场、文化身份、权力政治和健康福祉四个维度，梳理网红对社会复杂且矛盾的影响，并指出未来研究方向。
Influencers have become central to contemporary marketing, yet their impact extends far beyond brand preferences and purchase decisions. This special issue editorial introduces the Spheres of Influence framework, which conceptualises influencers’ impact across four interconnected spheres of society: (1) consumption and markets, (2) culture and identity, (3) power and politics, and (4) health and well-being. Drawing on interdisciplinary literature, including the 14 articles in this special issue, we synthesise evidence of influencers’ diverse, complex, and often contradictory implications for each sphere, highlight knowledge gaps, and identify future research directions. In doing so, we emphasise the importance of recognising how market actors within the broader influencer ecosystem (e.g., consumers, brands, social media platforms, influencer marketing platforms, regulators) shape influencers’ implications for society. Together, this editorial and the papers published in this special issue aim to broaden marketing scholarship’s engagement with influencers’ multifaceted and far-reaching societal impact.