This paper introduces current research that focuses on the role of qualitative research in social media including the new ways of marketing promotion, participation, and interaction enabled by social media. The articles included in this special issue of Psychology & Marketing were selected from papers submitted to the 6th Global Innovation and Knowledge Academy (GIKA) conference held in March 2016 in Valencia, Spain. This paper provides a brief synthesis of the contributions of these articles to understanding social media's impact on the ability of organizations to better engage with and market to customers.