Introduction

Consumer brand relationships (CBR) are being reshaped by three forces: (1) intensified cultural and identity-based consumption, (2) rising societal and environmental expectations toward brands, and (3) the diffusion of platformed and AI-mediated interactions. In this context, brands are no longer merely managerial assets; they also operate as cultural objects and social actors — relationship partners whose meanings are co-produced by consumers, communities, institutions, and technological infrastructures.
Paris offers a distinctive lens on these transformations. As a global capital of luxury, heritage, creativity, gastronomy, and cultural production, it highlights how brand relationships draw on aesthetics, symbolic value, and cultural legitimacy — while also sharpening tensions around inclusion, sustainability, and responsible innovation.
We welcome full papers, works-in-progress, and case studies that explore how brand meanings are experienced, contested, and stabilized, and how these dynamics shape relationship outcomes such as love, attachment, trust, commitment, engagement, advocacy, hate, and ambivalence — whether the "brand" is a product, service, company, celebrity, individual, or place. We also encourage videography submissions and submissions on innovative pedagogical approaches.
Submit your work and join us for an unforgettable Parisian experience!

TOPICS

The following provides a list of possible topics to be discussed, but is not limited to: Consumer Brand Relationships & Emotions

• Positive brand relationships: brand love, passion, affection, attachment, intimacy, satisfaction, devotion
• Relationship quality and dynamics: trust, commitment, loyalty, forgiveness, compassion, trust repair
• Negative brand relationships: brand hate, dislike, avoidance, objection, anti-consumption
• Relationship tensions and endings: betrayal, revenge, relationship dissolution
• Brand transgressions and recovery strategies
• Brand relationships over time: evolution, trajectories, turning points, and longitudinal dynamics

Identity, Culture & Society

• Consumer brand identification and self-brand connections
• Recognition, nostalgia, memory, and symbolic meaning
• Cultural branding and intercultural meanings
• Intergenerational perspectives and life-course transitions in brand relationships
• Brand cults and 'religious' brands
• Gender performativity, gender fluidity, non-binary, and LGBTQIA+ expressions
• Inclusive branding, DEI strategies, authenticity, backlash, and legitimacy

Community, Engagement & Social Influence

• Brand communities, co-creation, participation, and collective rituals
• Brand engagement, advocacy, and anti-brand movements
• Social media and digital brand relationships
• User-generated content, virality, and meme culture
• Influencers, AI influencers, and consumer-celebrity/influencer relationships across sports, entertainment, and business

AI, Technology & Immersive Brand Experiences

• AI-mediated interactions: chatbots, conversational AI, and algorithmic personalization
• Anthropomorphism, perceived warmth and competence, and human-AI relational processes
• Virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and immersive brand experiences
• Cross-touchpoint journeys, customer experience (CX), and UX/UI branding
• Big data, analytics, and brand relationship management

Ethics, Sustainability & Responsibility

• CSR, sustainability, activism, and moral emotions
• Boycotts, responsibility, and stakeholder responses
• Brand ethics, transparency, and responsible communication
• Circular branding, second-hand markets, evolving value systems, and anti-consumption dynamics

Brand Strategy, Theory & Measurement

• Brand personality, anthropomorphism, and performativity
• Brand relationship theories and conceptual developments
• Brand relationship measurement and scale development
• Internal branding, employer branding, governance, institutional pressures, and regulation

Organizations, Places & Institutions

• Consumer-organization relationships (e.g., universities, NGOs, sports clubs, political parties)
• Consumer-place relationships: city, destination, and country branding

Luxury, Design & Creative Industries

• Brand aesthetics, visual identity, sensory branding, design, and creative direction
• Brands in creative industries including fashion, beauty, gastronomy, art, and tourism
• Luxury and heritage branding: authenticity, rarity, legitimacy, and cultural capital
• Digital luxury experiences and symbolic boundaries

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