Rotimi, Irmine KetaYap, Sheau-FenWooliscroft, Ben2024-09-232024-09-232024-09-19Journal of Marketing Management, ISSN: 0267-257X (Print); 1472-1376 (Online), Informa UK Limited, 1-28. doi: 10.1080/0267257x.2024.24055970267-257X1472-1376http://hdl.handle.net/10292/18036Child toy unboxers unintentionally and intentionally participate in paradoxical practices. The child influencer industry, shaped by ideological conflicts, is a foreign topic in the marketing domain despite its popularity. Drawing upon paradox theory, this conceptual article investigates three main paradoxes of child toy unboxers by addressing the following research questions: What are the paradoxical tensions that manifest in child toy unboxing industry? What research directions will prove fruitful for advancing our understanding of these paradoxical tensions and its implications for child toy unboxing marketing? Departing from the traditional perspective that positions opposite elements as separate and exclusive worlds, the disposition of these paradoxes provides new insights into the complex world of child influencers. This paper presents new research prospects and implications that promote socially responsible child influencer marketing.© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/1503 Business and Management1504 Commercial Services1505 Marketing3504 Commercial services3506 Marketing3507 Strategy, management and organisational behaviourJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.1080/0267257x.2024.2405597