On the Waves of Viral Marketing
Lacerda, Rafael Patrício
Federal University of
Campina Grande
rafapl85@gmail.com
Cavalcanti, Elmano Pontes
Federal University of
Campina Grande
elmanopc@gmail.com
Cavalcanti, Elmano Ramalho
Federal University of
Campina Grande
elmano@dsc.ufcg.edu.br
Track – E Marketing
Abstract
Information Technology has allowed the improvement of communication and hence, its
popularity and proliferation has contributed to the advent of new communication alternatives.
This study aims to assess to what extent viral marketing contributes to increase the
consumers’ purchase intent for products and their propensity to interact, passing the message
along. An exploratory research was performed. The data were collected through an electronic
questionnaire sent to hundreds of Internet users. The main results point out that: there is a
high agreement about the importance of looking for other consumers’ experience; the spread
of marketing message is positively correlated with its entertainment; the messages passed by
friends or acquaintances affect consumers’ purchase decision. In general, viral marketing
seems to be a powerful marketing communication tool.
Keywords
Viral Marketing, Word of Mouth, Buzz Marketing.
1.
Introduction
Information Technology has allowed the improvement of communication and hence, its
popularity and proliferation has contributed to the advent of new communication alternatives.
The
main
motivation
for
this
is
to
influence
consumers’
choice.
The rapid growth of brands is caused due to this phenomenon known as viral marketing
(Xiong and Hu, 2010; Pitta, 2008; Cross and Fill, 2008).
A great potential associated with this phenomenon is the possibility that ideas, products,
messages, and initiatives such as Google’s, Hotmail’s, and Yahoo’s can be spread like
viruses. The spread of communication is comparable to a viral epidemic, since the spread of a
message can occur exponentially, infecting an increasing number of people in the cyberspace.
Acting like a virus, it can spread almost imperceptibly in its initial manifestation, and only be
noticeable when the proportion of infected individuals has increased exponentially (Gladwell,
2002).
Viral marketing is a powerful tool with a yet untapped potential (Xavier and Summer,
2009), what open possibilities for development of new studies. Thus, this study aims to assess
to what extent viral marketing contributes to increase the consumers’ purchase intent for
products and their propensity to interact, passing the message along.
2. Viral Marketing
Viral marketing is based on the principle of operation of WoM (Word-of-Mouth) and its
potential as a tool to generate influence has given rise to a variety of studies concerning
effects, influences and impacts resulting from social communication (Brooks, 1958; Stafford,
1966; Ardt, 1967; Engel, Kegerreis and Blackwell, 1969; Richins, 1983; Buttle, 1998).
In general, the literature on WoM focuses on three aspects: (1) identify the type of
individual who is prone to disseminate experiences; (2) detailing the social networks through
which the messages are spread; and (3) to analyze interpersonal influences in the process of
searching for information (Brown et al., 2005).
The viral communication, unlike spam, is based on the assumption of permission
marketing. Viral marketing constitutes an advertising technique in which the digital file is
distributed from one user to another via email or social networks (Golan and Zaidner, 2008).
It is also considered as tactics to produce a process that allows interested persons involving
others (Subramani and Rajagopalan, 2003).
Viral marketing is any strategy that can encourage people to spread a marketing message,
causing an exponential growth of the message's exposure and influence (Wilson, 2000).
Thus, viral marketing can be any marketing activity that accelerates and amplifies the
electronic WoM. This phenomenon is the creation of contagious advertising messages or
materials that are passed on peer-to-peer (file distribution network), to increase brand
awareness (Kirby, 2006).
While traditional marketing communication directly addresses the consumer, viral
marketing communication develops an environment where consumers send messages without
the direct involvement of the original source (Woerndl et al., 2008).
The increased level of interest in recent years regarding viral marketing is an indication
that there may be significant advantages included in this new marketing technique. The
primary advantage of using viral marketing is associated with low cost required to develop the
campaign (Kaikati; Kaikati, 2004; Dobele, Toleman, Beverland, 2005; Little, 2005; Kirby,
2006; Fairbank, 2008; Godin 2001).
Another important benefit relates to viral marketing is the ability to reach a substantial
number of people in a relatively short period of time (Kaikati; Kaikati, 2004; Dobele,
Toleman, Beverland, 2005).
3. Methodology
The exploratory research used an electronic questionnaire. It was adapted from works
of Fairbank (2008), Jakobsen and Skov (2009), and Xavier and Summer (2009). The purpose
of the first one was to establish the effectiveness of viral marketing in product sales. The
second one sought to understand whether a viral video made by a user is more likely to be
passed than the same done by a marketer. The last one aimed to explore the receptivity of
consumer, and the perception and behavioral response regarding viral marketing.
The questionnaire was divided into three parts. The first part aimed to evaluate the level of
consumer engagement for this new media and its tools. The second part aimed to measure the
level of the respondents’ attitude concerning advertising in general, and to understand the
degree of involvement of the respondent with the chosen product: (digital) cameras. The third
part aimed to evaluate the viral video, after watching it.
The questions for all the variables are bipolar using a 7 point Likert scale, meaning as
follows: 1 ‘disagreement’ and 7 ‘agreement’. This instrument was made available on the
Internet, along with the viral video about some ‘S’ brand, worldwide known for its electronic
products.
For data collection, an invitation email was sent to 600 selected persons, equally
distributed between students and professionals from various specialties. The invitation
message asked them to take part in the research and, after participating, to indicate other
people to be part of the sample. This last point is what characterizes the true meaning of viral
marketing.
It was used convenient sample. Though it is not representative, it is useful to generate
ideas, to get a new overview or to build hypotheses (Malhotra, 2008).
Moreover, an auto-generated sample was also used, not by lack of knowledge of the
population, but because it resembles the characteristics of viral marketing tactics. Procedures
were performed to ensure the reliability of the collected data.
The survey was available for twenty-three days. During this period 159 questionnaires
were collected, what represents an average of almost 7 questionnaires per day. The response
rate was 26.5%. The following guidelines were considered for the analysis of the results: from
1.0 to 2.9 high degree of disagreement, from 3.0 to 4.9 intermediate level, and 5 to 7 high
degree of agreement.
4. Findings and discussion
The understanding of the level of attitude and perception that people have for sharing
information through cyberspace was verified by the following variables: trust in the
comments, consumer experience, the effect of comments and messages from friends or
acquaintances.
Despite the considerable growth of Internet usage by users to express their opinions on
many things, there is still some distrust about the source, quality, accuracy and reliability of
information posted on the Internet. The level of the trust in the comments was 3.3, which
means an intermediate degree between agreement and disagreement. While it is true that the
Internet is a plenty source of information and knowledge, it is also true that a portion of them
are unreliable. This statement, added to the high incidence of spam messages, may explain the
relative lack of confidence by the users. The study conducted by Fairbank (2008) shows that
consumers are influenced by online messages, however, they rely more on the opinion written
by their friends than by strangers.
The effect of comments and messages from friends or acquaintances on the impact of
consumers' purchase decision was 4.8. It is believed that the loss of negative feedback is
greater than the benefit of positive feedback, since the motivation for the WoM is greater in
the first case (Kottler and Keller, 2006).
However, this certain mistrust about the comments and messages does not prevent
searching for other consumers’ experience. There was a high agreement (6.4) about the
importance of seeking the experience of other consumers. This suggests that one of the basic
prerequisites for the consumer's purchase decision is the opinion of people who have bought
and used the product.
These results emphasize the relevance of WoM, partly because the value found for
comments and messages from friends or acquaintances, which sought to understand the
extent to which the comments and messages passed by friends or acquaintances affect
consumers’ purchase decision, was also at high level of concordance (6.0).
Thus, from a consumer perspective, the contribution to the growth of WoM and viral
marketing may stem mainly from: the suffering caused by negative experiences and a concern
to avoid future suffering. These results indeed reinforce the growth of efforts toward the
WoM and viral marketing, since they can provide a greater impact on the consumer than the
traditional marketing communication tools.
The attitude with respect to the video was inspected through the variables perception of
the video, opinion of the video, innovation, creativity, and entertainment. Thus, the purpose
was to understand the level of impact that the viral video used in the experiment caused on
consumer perceptions.
The purpose of perception of the video was to know if the video was considered of good
quality. The result was 5.7, indicating high concordance. This may mean that the video has
attracted attention, and thus be well rated. This type of advertising differs considerably from
traditional advertisements. Attracting consumer attention to something not so serious, but that
may generate a curiosity in the viewer for seeking more information, and to make comments
that possibly arouse other people’s interest.
The opinion of the video was 5.7, indicating a good level. What may have happened to this
result be not higher? The modus operandi of viral marketing is different to that involving
traditional communication and this requires adaptations and new learning by the marketing
professional.
The video was also assessed in terms of innovation (5.8), creativity (6.1), and
entertainment (5.6). These results mean that the video was considered innovative, creative,
and also provide good entertainment.
The new tools of information technology and the usage of viral marketing may already
suggest a kind of innovation. To enable the occurrence of viral effect, the video needs some
kind of innovation, creativity, and entertainment. These key features are intrinsic to viral
videos, whether they are in the form of product presentation, interaction with viewers,
attracting attention, generating questions, etc.
It is interesting to note that the foreground of a viral video is within these characteristics.
The highlight would be for entertainment, creativity and innovative aspect. Meanwhile, the
brand or the product may appear in a subtle way in the background. Thus, consumers may not
associate the video with the advertisement and thus feel encouraged to spread it.
Video content was verified through the use of information, relevance of information and
importance of information. The results (respectively 5.2, 5.1 and 5.1) suggest the video was
considered useful, relevant and important.
Despite these results, there were some divergent manifestations of the respondents: "the
video does not show any kind of information I consider relevant", "the video shows good
creativity, but not enough to be very fun". Comments like these show the level of complexity
and the requirement that the marketer has to deal to find a balance between the key attributes
and the volume of information.
Among the favorable manifestations of respondents are: “since it is self-explanatory, it
shows several important questions”, “it is interactive, interesting and conveys product quality
and value”. For presenting these characteristics, the respondent said that would spread the
video. Comments like this highlight the potential that a viral video can help on strengthening
a brand. These statements may suggest that the developer of the video needs to define in
advance how to express the message and the essence of its content. This step is important
because the effectiveness of viral marketing depends on the reaction of the viewer to the
displayed content. If the viewer likes it, there is a considerable possibility of passing it to
others.
The video quality was measured by the perception on the quality and level of
professionalism. The results were respectively 5.4 and 5.3. Among the respondents'
comments: "It is expected a quality and impressive advertising coming from the S brand",
"the video quality is a fundamental attribute, because if you leave a bad impression,
especially for a known brand, people probably will not reproduce the video in cyberspace".
Thus, besides being one of the key factors for the dissemination, the video quality can provide
positive or negative associations to the brand.
Regarding the level of professionalism, one respondent said: "At the beginning of the video
you think it is amateur, not associating an advertisement, then you see that its real intention is
to promote the X camera". The aim with this strategy is to make the video different from a
typical commercial, which represents one of the main characteristics of viral marketing.
Jakobsen and Skov (2009) conducted an experiment with two videos related to two
brands. The first (Nike) was developed by a user and the other (Sprite) by a professional.
They concluded that, whatever people believe that the advertisements are created by Internet
users or marketers, the quality requirement is apparently present in consumer perception.
Thus, whether the video creator is or not a professional, a viral video needs to show
creativity, quality, information and context so that the brand is identified and stored, as well
as the content must be compelling enough to disseminate it.
The tendency to pass the message forward was examined by the impetus to spread and
spread of marketing message. The results were respectively 4.6 and 4.9, suggesting certain
apprehension to pass the message forward. This was evidenced in the following comment: "I
would spread the video if I’d gain from this. Failing that, only in cases where the context of
the conversation with my friends were like the example of the video".
Comments like this demonstrate that, to achieve the desired effect is not an easy task for
viral marketing. Being funny, having a bit of humor or entertainment may not be enough.
Although not presenting an immediate effect, it is possible that the video could leave some
underlying feeling in the viewer's memory and thrive in a timely manner (Witz and Chew,
2002).
Independently the effect is immediate or not, an interesting question arises: will the consumer
talk about the video or the brand? In this sense it was found that the spread of marketing
message is positively correlated with a significance level of 0.01 with the video
entertainment. Respectively, the values for tests of Pearson, Spearman and Kendall were: r =
0.604, rho = 0.501 and tau-b = 0.581. The strength of this relationship varies between
moderate and strong. Overall, these results mean that, ceteris paribus, the video would stand
out above the brand. Related to this, the volume of consumers’ feedback is positively
correlated with the volume of sales (Godes and Mayzlin, 2004; Dellarocas et al., 2007).
However, if the video stands out above the brand, it does not mean that this wouldn’t be
interesting for the brand. It is noteworthy that however much the attributes highlight the video
and this gets the focus of attention, the brand will inevitably be associated with it. As a result
of curiosity the brand will be indirectly benefited.
Once a person has opted to pass the message forward, it remains for the consumer to
choose the recipients. It should be noted that potential senders tend to be selective in that
choice (Phelps et al., 2004).
As a final verification of attitude, the propensity to buy was used to assess how far the
video has sparked consumer's purchase intention. The result was 4.6. Although this value does
not characterize a good propensity for the purchase and probably does not ensure the
increment of sales for the S brand, it can contribute to a latent effect and cause positive
consequences at a later time.
According to Blackwell, Miniard and Engel (2005), the consumer’s attitude comes under
the influence of beliefs about the attributes of a product. For example, the viral video about
the camera captures consumer’s attention by humor, causing a processing of the viewed
information.
After that, the interest for the product just arises, through the belief that the camera will
provide perfect images, and additional resources. Thus, the consumer makes a “mental note”,
reminding him to search for information about the product until he believes that will like the
camera enough to try it or acquire it.
5. Conclusions
From the observed results, although there is some suspicion in the messages from viral
marketing waves, the consumer seems to be convinced of the importance of seeking other
consumers’ experiences.
As already recognized by several studies, the greater effectiveness of a message, when
sent by friends or acquaintances, could also be observed in this study. Although the video has
caused a purchase intention, a number of other factors (e.g., personal, product or context),
also contribute to this. Anyway, the influence of the marketing message to affect consumers’
purchase decision can explain the growing efforts toward WoM, viral marketing and even
social networks. Among the key motivating factors that lead consumers to disseminate
messages are those related to the entertainment provided by the advertisement and
selflessness to help other consumers. The attributes of innovation, creativity, entertainment
and quality could emphasize the video over the brand. Nevertheless, the brand will inevitably
be associated with it.
Finally, not achieving a high propensity for purchasing does not preclude the use of viral
marketing. Though the stimulus provided by the marketing message is low and implies no
instantly effect, it may happen in a moment later. In general, viral marketing seems to be a
powerful marketing communication tool.
The following items are suggest as future research: to search for possible differences
between the purchase intention and its realization; to examine to what extent companies are
actually prepared to use this new tool; to propose a model for measuring effectiveness of viral
marketing; and to propose a model to identify individuals more likely for spreading the
marketing message.
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