Complex systems science and complexity thinking are increasingly being applied to a range of both novel and previously existing social, economic, and environmental issues on a variety of different scales. One discipline that has come to engage more with complexity theory is that of marketing. Marketing systems are generally understood as meta-systems exhibiting large-scale behaviors that cannot be simply inferred from either individual behaviors or organizational/firm behaviors. Therefore, a systemic view from a complexity perspective can potentially yield greater insight than more traditional marketing analysis grounded in assumptions of individual cognitive information processing on the basis of rational utility maximization or ABC (Attitude, Behavior, Choice) models. Research marketing is therefore adapting its approaches and methodologies to better respond to the increasingly complex consumption and information environment, and to understand and respond to the market and its consumers, whether for a physical good, service, celebrity brand, destination, or social cause. For instance, in a micro-marketing system, companies must be competing while maintaining cooperation, reflecting a complex system nature with multiscales, from individuals to organizations to a macro market. Information within a marketing system further provides an appropriate context for studying complexity system science, considering the complex nature of consumers’ social connections and information nodes linked on the internet.

Contemporary marketing research extends from private firms and customer focus to social marketing, public affairs, political marketing, and sustainability marketing, along with increasing interest in social media and big data management and the potential for marketing's contribution to positive behavioral interventions and tipping points in socio-economic systems, which usually requires systematic thinking and investigation-based on complex systems. However, complex systems science has been receiving growing, but not yet sufficient recognition in marketing and cognate fields as a potential means of generating improved analysis and understanding of the informational technology-facilitated socio-economic systems within which much contemporary marketing operates.

The aim of this Special Issue is to showcase cutting-edge and forward-thinking examples of the application of complexity science and thinking within marketing and consumer behavior research. We hope to attract a range of approaches to marketing within different fields and sub-disciplines, and cover topics including smart technology, social media marketing, supply chain, public marketing, place and destination promotion, big data management, and green marketing. We welcome empirical, theoretical, methodological, conceptual (e.g., potential new models), and review-based papers.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Complex systems science and smart technology in marketing contexts, especially related to new marketing communication channels and methodologies
• Complex systems science and big data discussed in the context of social media marketing
• Complex systems science and innovations in supply chain management
• Complex systems science and public services marketing
• Complex systems science and smart cities
• Complexity and macro-marketing systems
• Complexity and behavioral interventions for sustainability, as well as other consumer behaviors
• Complex systems science and public biosecurity