Journal of Interactive Advertising

Robotics in Advertising and Marketing

From the eras of radio and television to personal computers and the internet, advertising has repeatedly expanded into new media environments as communication technologies changed consumer attention and access points (Tewari, Upadhyay, and Pant, 2023). Today, that trajectory is extending into home robotics, as advances in embodied or “physical” AI are making robots more capable of sensing, reasoning, and acting in everyday physical environments (Song et al., 2025). This shift is occurring alongside major demographic pressures: single-child families have increased since the 1970s, rising from 10 million to 14.4 million in 2020 (Hanson, 2026), while the U.S. population is aging rapidly, with the number of adults aged 65 and older projected to grow from 58 million in 2022 to 82 million by 2050—a 42% increase (U.S. Census Bureau, 2023). In response to these structural changes, social robots in the home have been proposed as a potential solution, particularly as the caregiver workforce is projected to face a shortfall of 355,000 workers by 2024 (Home Instead, 2021). Reflecting these social shifts and emerging needs, major companies such as Amazon, Samsung, and Unitree are developing—and in some cases already commercializing—robots designed for caregiving, education, and home surveillance.

Amid these technological and social shifts, a significant opportunity lies in positioning robots as a novel channel for advertising and the promotion of goods and services. For instance, Amazon has introduced Astro, an in-home robot integrated with the Alexa voice assistant, as part of its broader push into voice-driven commerce. This approach may prove especially persuasive, as human–robot interactions can foster strong emotional connections, transforming a household robot into a companion that also functions as a subtle yet influential promotional agent. Moving beyond their traditional roles as retail assistants in service and hospitality contexts or as industrial machinery in factories, at-home robots are increasingly emerging as a new form of marketing communication—one that bridges the gap between marketers and consumers in their everyday environments.

Given the rapid evolution of home environments shaped by robotic technologies, the Journal of Interactive Advertising seeks high-quality, original research at the intersection of robotics, marketing, and interactive advertising. We invite conceptual, empirical, and methodological contributions that examine how consumers engage with robotic agents and how these interactions influence brand perception, consumer behavior, and marketing strategy.

Suggested Topics:

We welcome submissions employing a wide range of methodological approaches. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Human–Robot Interaction: Psychological effects of perceived vitality, animacy, and agency in brand-representative robots
• Social and Relational Marketing: Use of social robots to build brand loyalty, foster parasocial relationships, and address consumer isolation through interactive engagement
• Care Robotics: Roles of interactive robots in home and specialized contexts, including navigation, product recommendation, and customer service
• Technology Adoption: Factors and mechanisms that influence consumer adoption of robots in domestic settings
• Experiential and Event Marketing: Effectiveness of robotic installations in creating immersive brand experiences and interactive out-of-home (OOH) advertising
• Ethical and Privacy Considerations: Issues of consumer trust, data privacy, and the ethical implications of autonomous data collection by robotic agents in advertising and marketing contexts
• Measurement and Metrics: Development of frameworks for assessing ROI and consumer engagement in human–robot interactive advertising campaigns

Keywords: Human–Robot Interaction, Social Robots, Robotic Advertising, Robotic Agents, Home Robotics

References: Available upon request. Due to the space limitation, the list of cited resources cannot be provided in this announcement.