1. What is viral marketing
1.1 Definition
The first emergence of the term “viral marketing” seems to use to describe the marketing strategy of Hotmail in 1990s (Bampo, Ewing, Mather, Stewart & Wallace, 2008). Later, in 2000s, terms like “word of web”, “word of mouse”, “customer to customer communication” or “peer to peer communication” and “buzz marketing” appears and are used to describe viral marketing (Bampo, Ewing, Mather, Stewart & Wallace, 2008) and according to Rollins, Anitsal & Anitsal (2014), viral marketing is a the further development of the combination of buzz marketing, word of mouth marketing and online marketing.
Several researchers at the marketing field have described viral marketing simply as an advanced version of the
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If a message is able to being forwarded by one to others in a “hypermedia environment” (Bampo, Ewing, Mather, Stewart & Wallace, 2008) and this action is being repeatedly taken, a successful and strong viral marketing campaign is occurred and it can reach thousands of audience rapidly with a lower cost than traditional mass media (Zerinigah & Sohail, 2012).
Once the marketers created an electronic message, customers are encouraged to pass on the message to others through their social network structure which acting like a referral advertising marketing strategy (Johannes & Johannes, 2014). If the senders are posting the message on the social media platforms like Facebook or YouTube, they may even reach the individuals they do not know or do not intent to target (Ho & Dempsey, 2010). Cheung & Lee (2012) reported that the information provided by the consumers on the opinion sites is more influential to consumers that most of the consumers will review online feedback and comments before making purchase. The viral marketing is becoming “an important factor of shaping consumers purchase behavior” (Cheung & Lee, 2012) since it can inspire the consumers to take the buy action (Zerinigah & Sohail, 2012) and the messages’ reliability increase if the consumers receive the
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The message positivity are often related to the consumers’ experience during the purchasing process (Radighieri & Mulder, 2013) and the positivity of the experience are associated with their satisfaction of the purchase (Sweeney, Soutar & Mazzarot, 2012).
The negative messages are not only affecting the consumers’ behaviour but also the brands and the products, for example, an online complaint comment can damage the company’s reputation (Chang & Wu, 2014). Kim, Seo & Schrier (2014) stated that dissatisfied consumers are more motivated to share their experience so the negative messages are more than the positive one. Online shoppers are affected heavily by the negative messages as they are more informative and diagnostic (Chang & Wu, 2014), however, the consumers might consider the negative messages as the intentional attack to the company because the bias, hence affect the credibility of the message (Kim, Seo & Schrier,
Information technology and internet introduced the term Spam; irrelevant or inappropriate messages sent on the Internet to a large number of recipients. But any irrelevant and unclear information distributed in bulk by any sort of media can be considered as a spam. Before information technology, spammers used telegrams to send unsolicited commercial telegrams advertising the business. During great depression wealthy Americans were flooded with unclear investment marketing offers. Advancement in Information technology made people connect over the internet. The rise of internet made the spammer’s job simple by using electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages (spam), especially advertising, indiscriminately.
In the book The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, it discusses the major changes in society and why they happen suddenly and in an unexpected manner. Gladwell allows us to see the patterns that ideas take and makes us see how they can spread like infectious diseases. He analyzes fashion trends, direct mail, children’s television, smoking, and the American Revolution in order to round up hints about how ideas become infectious, he calls these “social epidemics”. I chose this book because one of my favorite things to do is watch how new trends and ideas begin and furthermore develop. It’s fun to see how something so small as an idea can turn into something so great. Now more than ever before, technology is advancing more and more each day, causing a commotion in our society and an urge to have the latest and greatest ideas out there. This book has helped me add a few new things to my general business knowledge. One being that you have to be very exact and creative in order to convey your message in a way that will make your idea attract the correct public. Another thing is that you should never take for granted marketing via word of mouth, because that is one of the most powerful ways social epidemics occur.
Buzz marketing is a very deceptive practice performed by many top marketing companies. According to the Business Week article, “Buzz Marketing,” backlash is a common result of buzz marketing, "Our clients have to know that if you are trying to be subversive and you are found out, it can be dangerous," states Scott Leonard, CEO of ADD Marketing Inc., an agency that uses street teams and chat-room "cyber-reps" to spread hot, not-always-flattering gossip about client company recording artists.
Viral marketing is a form of word-of-mouth marketing that aims to result in a message spreading exponentially and campaigns work when a message is spread exponentially and it results in a desired outcome for a brand (Stokes, R., 2010). Viral marketing uses the internet to disclose and spread the company’s products or services. It harnesses the electronic connectivity of individuals to ensure marketing messages are referred from one person to another (Stokes, R., 2010). There are two types of viral marketing. Organic viral campaigns spread with no input from the company who wants to advertise. The message or product/ service being sold by the merchant are passed around in a viral nature without any intention from the marketer (Stokes, R., 2010). In organic viral marketing, no planning was done on how to broadcast the products or services and those who expose the products or services made a choice just to pass it around by word of mouth in the internet. Amplified viral marketing on the other hand have been strategically planned, have defined goals for the brand being marketed, and usually have a distinct method of passing on the message (that can be tracked and quantified by the marketer) (Stokes , R.,2010). To go viral, sellers or services provider have to define the aims of the campaign. Sellers or service providers have to decide if the company wants brand awareness, drive traffic or make sure customers avail of the products or services. Secondly, the company should plan the message it wants to go viral. The message has to be unique and easily noticeable by consumers. Third, the message you want to convey must be passed on to others efficiently. The company has to provide incentives for sharing. The greatest ince...
Without customers continuing to purchase products from any company, there will not be any profit. For consumer needs, good communication habits are required so that his or her satisfaction is always priority. By consistently keeping an open means of communication with purchasers, there will be continued knowledge of how to keep them satisfied. Word of mouth can make or break a company (Richins, 2009). When consumers receive negative feedback about a product by someone they trust in their personal life, they are very likely to avoid purchasing that product.
Furthermore, I will explain the application of theory relating to me and my purchase. I will also review the marketing activity of the organization where I purchased from. This is to explain how the two theories have been used in the marketing strategy. In addition, recommendations regarding how the marketing strategy could have been improved by applying the 2 buyer behaviour theories are given.
...chase the product again, and are also inclined to say good things about the brand to others; the opposite applies to customers who are dissatisfied with the products. Value also affects post purchase behaviour, as research shows that 56 percent of Irish consumers agree, that if they purchase something that was not on sale, they feel like they have overpaid (Board Bia, 2012).
The wide spread use of internet in the public through the invention of wifi has exposed businesses such as Mercedes Benz and Haines signature boats to mass media. Programs such as Facebook make word of mouth either an issue or way of getting new customers. Prior to programs like facebook, ‘word of mouth’ could have only a limited effect on an...
· Use of social media for promotion- word of mouth and social media help to get the message across and promote the product efficiently
Influencer Marketing, also known as "word of mouth", is the process of brands getting their message out through people who are influential to their target market.
Consumer before making a purchase decision usually prefers those brands of product or services which they think has served them more value than the cost which creates a good brand perception in the mind. So there is always an influence of brand image on purchase intension. There are number of blogs and online forums (local and universal) that are working on giving reviews of their every new range of products. These forums, blogs, Facebook pages, and other communities are reviewed by millions of people daily. The more accurate and reliable information the blogs will provide, the more effective brand image will be created in the mind of the consumer. This easily assessable information then effects the consumption decision of the
Several factors affect consumers’ attitudes, actions and decisions. Public catch information from social networks, which is an important source of getting information and this, is also a very suitable source of information. People talk about their experiences with each other regarding a product or brand. This is how people get different kind of information about different brands and products. In marketing we call this thing electronic word of mouth. Word-of-mouth is evaluating or sharing experiences...
VARGO, S. L. & LUSCH, R. F. 2004. Evolving to a New Dominant Logic for Marketing. Journal of Marketing, 68, 1-17.
Advertising has been defined as the most powerful, persuasive, and manipulative tool that firms have to control consumers all over the world. It is a form of communication that typically attempts to persuade potential customers to purchase or to consume more of a particular brand of product or service. Its impacts created on the society throughout the years has been amazing, especially in this technology age. Influencing people’s habits, creating false needs, distorting the values and priorities of our society with sexism and feminism, advertising has become a poison snake ready to hunt his prey. However, on the other hand, advertising has had a positive effect as a help of the economy and society.
To effectively sell a product or service, organizations have to really know how customers behave, regarding to what they buy. The study