In 2026, the strategic landscape is defined by a shift from integrated global markets to fragmented geoeconomic blocks. This transition has forced a fundamental decoupling of traditional value chains. This track explores how firms across industries leverage Digital Media Networks and Social Commerce ecosystems to maintain a competitive advantage during a period of sustained inflation and volatile consumer behavior. We invite research that examines the intersection of Agentic AI (autonomous AI shoppers and decision-bots) and Social Media, where the “customer journey” is no longer a linear path but a continuous, algorithmic loop of discovery, transaction, and advocacy.
We seek papers (conceptual contributions, empirical studies or macro-marketing perspectives) that address the following key research themes through the lenses of Resource-Based View (RBV), Institutional Theory, or Dynamic Capabilities.
Key research themes:
- Ecosystem orchestration as a strategic buffer: How do firms use decentralized partner networks to bypass traditional supply shocks and “techno-nationalism” in a fragmented world?
- Agentic Commerce & The Machine-to-Machine Marketplace: As AI agents begin to autonomously compare value, evaluate sustainability, and execute transactions on behalf of humans, how must strategic marketing adapt to “Zero-Click” brand positioning?
- Social Media as a dynamic capability: Investigating how firms use social platforms not just for communication, but as real-time sensory organs to pivot product offerings and strategy during economic shocks.
- The “Value-Seeking” consumer paradox: In a high-inflation environment, how do ecosystems use predictive AI to balance cost-efficiency with high-touch “moments of delight”?
- Data monetization & network governance: Exploring the rise of Proprietary Media Networks within ecosystems. How does the control of first-party consumer data redefine power dynamics between manufacturers, platforms, and end-users?
Track Chairs: Prof. Dan-Cristian Dabija, PhD, Babes-Bolyai University, Romania, and Prof. Tudor Edu, PhD, Romanian-American University, Romania
Email: dabijadancristian@gmail.com, tudor.edu@rau.ro