IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/amsrev/v10y2020i3d10.1007_s13162-019-00152-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A framework for viral marketing replication and mutation

Author

Listed:
  • Gavin L. Fox

    (Washington and Lee University)

  • Stephen J. Lind

    (Washington and Lee University)

Abstract

The value of successful viral marketing campaigns to marketing performance is widely acknowledged. As a result, a great deal of attention is paid to mechanisms that foster viral spread. However, due to the consumer-influenced nature of viral replication, it is also important to consider the malleability of such messages. Expanding the focus to include the potential for viral mutations is a critical step in understanding how viral messages evolve and in understanding which messages are most likely to spread and generate their desired impact. Further, there currently is no accepted model for the viral marketing replication process to guide research efforts. Therefore, this article defines viral message mutations, builds a framework for the viral replication process, and identifies susceptibility to mutation at various stages of that process. The proposed framework is then used to offer numerous avenues for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Gavin L. Fox & Stephen J. Lind, 2020. "A framework for viral marketing replication and mutation," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 10(3), pages 206-222, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:amsrev:v:10:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s13162-019-00152-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s13162-019-00152-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13162-019-00152-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13162-019-00152-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. McQuarrie, Edward F & Mick, David Glen, 1996. "Figures of Rhetoric in Advertising Language," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 22(4), pages 424-438, March.
    2. Gruen, Thomas W. & Osmonbekov, Talai & Czaplewski, Andrew J., 2006. "eWOM: The impact of customer-to-customer online know-how exchange on customer value and loyalty," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(4), pages 449-456, April.
    3. Vishal Narayan & Vithala R. Rao & Carolyne Saunders, 2011. "How Peer Influence Affects Attribute Preferences: A Bayesian Updating Mechanism," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(2), pages 368-384, 03-04.
    4. Hinz, Oliver & Skiera, Bernd & Barrot, Christian & Becker, Jan, 2011. "Seeding Strategies for Viral Marketing: An Empirical Comparison," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 56543, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    5. Dobele, Angela & Toleman, David & Beverland, Michael, 2005. "Controlled infection! Spreading the brand message through viral marketing," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 143-149.
    6. De Bruyn, Arnaud & Lilien, Gary L., 2008. "A multi-stage model of word-of-mouth influence through viral marketing," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 151-163.
    7. McGuire, William J, 2000. "Standing on the Shoulders of Ancients: Consumer Research, Persuasion, and Figurative Language," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 27(1), pages 109-114, June.
    8. Fournier, Susan, 1998. "Consumers and Their Brands: Developing Relationship Theory in Consumer Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 24(4), pages 343-373, March.
    9. Mothersbaugh, David L & Huhmann, Bruce A & Franke, George R, 2002. "Combinatory and Separative Effects of Rhetorical Figures on Consumers' Effort and Focus in Ad Processing," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 28(4), pages 589-602, March.
    10. Zeelenberg, M. & Pieters, R., 2004. "Beyond valence in customer dissatisfaction : A review and new findings on behavioral responses to regret and disappointment in failed services," Other publications TiSEM 7bfb4aa9-cba7-4786-850d-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    11. Park, Cheol & Lee, Thae Min, 2009. "Antecedents of Online Reviews' Usage and Purchase Influence: An Empirical Comparison of U.S. and Korean Consumers," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 332-340.
    12. Mick, David Glen, 1992. "Levels of Subjective Comprehension in Advertising Processing and Their Relations to Ad Perceptions, Attitudes, and Memory," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 18(4), pages 411-424, March.
    13. Kaplan, Andreas M. & Haenlein, Michael, 2011. "Two hearts in three-quarter time: How to waltz the social media/viral marketing dance," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 253-263, May.
    14. Herr, Paul M & Kardes, Frank R & Kim, John, 1991. "Effects of Word-of-Mouth and Product-Attribute Information on Persuasion: An Accessibility-Diagnosticity Perspective," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 17(4), pages 454-462, March.
    15. Kristine de Valck & Roberts V. Kozinets & Andrea C. Wojnicki & Sarah J.S. Wilner, 2010. "Networked Narratives: Understanding Word-of-Mouth Marketing in Online Communities," Post-Print hal-00458424, HAL.
    16. Gaby A. C. Schellekens & Peeter W. J. Verlegh & Ale Smidts, 2010. "Language Abstraction in Word of Mouth," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(2), pages 207-223, August.
    17. Johnson, Richard D & Levin, Irwin P, 1985. "More than Meets the Eye: The Effect of Missing Information on Purchase Evaluations," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 12(2), pages 169-177, September.
    18. Ho, Jason Y.C. & Dempsey, Melanie, 2010. "Viral marketing: Motivations to forward online content," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(9-10), pages 1000-1006, September.
    19. David Dubois & Derek D. Rucker & Zakary L. Tormala, 2011. "From Rumors to Facts, and Facts to Rumors: The Role of Certainty Decay in Consumer Communications," Post-Print hal-00653241, HAL.
    20. Phelps, Joseph E. & Lewis, Regina & Mobilio, Lynne & Perry, David & Raman, Niranjan, 2004. "Viral Marketing or Electronic Word-of-Mouth Advertising: Examining Consumer Responses and Motivations to Pass Along Email," Journal of Advertising Research, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(4), pages 333-348, December.
    21. Mauro Bampo & Michael T. Ewing & Dineli R. Mather & David Stewart & Mark Wallace, 2008. "The Effects of the Social Structure of Digital Networks on Viral Marketing Performance," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 19(3), pages 273-290, September.
    22. McQuarrie, Edward F & Mick, David Glen, 2003. "Visual and Verbal Rhetorical Figures under Directed Processing versus Incidental Exposure to Advertising," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 29(4), pages 579-587, March.
    23. Wendy W. Moe & David A. Schweidel, 2012. "Online Product Opinions: Incidence, Evaluation, and Evolution," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(3), pages 372-386, May.
    24. S. Christian Wheeler & Richard E. Petty & George Y. Bizer, 2005. "Self-Schema Matching and Attitude Change: Situational and Dispositional Determinants of Message Elaboration," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 31(4), pages 787-797, March.
    25. McQuarrie, Edward F & Mick, David Glen, 1999. "Visual Rhetoric in Advertising: Text-Interpretive, Experimental, and Reader-Response Analyses," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 26(1), pages 37-54, June.
    26. Kietzmann, Jan H. & Hermkens, Kristopher & McCarthy, Ian P. & Silvestre, Bruno S., 2011. "Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 241-251, May.
    27. Tauber, Edward M., 1981. "Brand franchise extension: New product benefits from existing Brand Names," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 36-41.
    28. Batra, Rajeev & Ray, Michael L, 1986. "Situational Effects of Advertising Repetition: The Moderating Influence of Motivation, Ability, and Opportunity to Respond," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 12(4), pages 432-445, March.
    29. Zeelenberg, Marcel & Pieters, Rik, 2004. "Beyond valence in customer dissatisfaction: A review and new findings on behavioral responses to regret and disappointment in failed services," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(4), pages 445-455, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kick, Markus, 2015. "Social Media Research: A Narrative Review," EconStor Preprints 182506, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    2. King, Robert Allen & Racherla, Pradeep & Bush, Victoria D., 2014. "What We Know and Don't Know About Online Word-of-Mouth: A Review and Synthesis of the Literature," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 167-183.
    3. Payal S. Kapoor & K.R. Jayasimha & Ashish Sadh, 2013. "Brand-related, Consumer to Consumer, Communication via Social Media," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 2(1), pages 43-59, January.
    4. Hayes, Jameson L. & King, Karen Whitehill & Ramirez, Artemio, 2016. "Brands, Friends, & Viral Advertising: A Social Exchange Perspective on the Ad Referral Processes," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 31-45.
    5. Pescher, Christian & Reichhart, Philipp & Spann, Martin, 2014. "Consumer Decision-making Processes in Mobile Viral Marketing Campaigns," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 43-54.
    6. Daphne M. Simmonds & Katia Campbell & Joseph Hasley, 2021. "Viral diffusion of technology products: a comprehensive stage framework," Information Systems and e-Business Management, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 597-619, June.
    7. Huang, Jinsong & Su, Song & Zhou, Liuning & Liu, Xi, 2013. "Attitude Toward the Viral Ad: Expanding Traditional Advertising Models to Interactive Advertising," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 36-46.
    8. Gensler, Sonja & Völckner, Franziska & Liu-Thompkins, Yuping & Wiertz, Caroline, 2013. "Managing Brands in the Social Media Environment," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 242-256.
    9. Tran, Gina A. & Strutton, David, 2020. "Comparing email and SNS users: Investigating e-servicescape, customer reviews, trust, loyalty and E-WOM," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    10. Kim, Juran & Kang, Seungmook & Lee, Ki Hoon, 2021. "Evolution of digital marketing communication: Bibliometric analysis and network visualization from key articles," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 552-563.
    11. Agnieszka Zablocki & Bodo Schlegelmilch & Michael J. Houston, 2019. "How valence, volume and variance of online reviews influence brand attitudes," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 9(1), pages 61-77, June.
    12. Ketelaar, Paul E. & Janssen, Loes & Vergeer, Maurice & van Reijmersdal, Eva A. & Crutzen, Rik & van ‘t Riet, Jonathan, 2016. "The success of viral ads: Social and attitudinal predictors of consumer pass-on behavior on social network sites," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 2603-2613.
    13. Roma, Paolo & Aloini, Davide, 2019. "How does brand-related user-generated content differ across social media? Evidence reloaded," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 322-339.
    14. Chu, Kyounghee & Lee, Do-Hee & Kim, Ji Yoon, 2019. "The effect of verbal brand personification on consumer evaluation in advertising: Internal and external personification," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 472-480.
    15. Jarosław Jankowski & Magdalena Zioło & Artur Karczmarczyk & Jarosław Wątróbski, 2017. "Towards Sustainability in Viral Marketing with User Engaging Supporting Campaigns," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.
    16. Moldovan, Sarit & Steinhart, Yael & Lehmann, Donald R., 2019. "Propagators, Creativity, and Informativeness: What Helps Ads Go Viral," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 102-114.
    17. Carnevale, Marina & Luna, David & Lerman, Dawn, 2017. "Brand linguistics: A theory-driven framework for the study of language in branding," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 572-591.
    18. Akbari, Morteza & Foroudi, Pantea & Zaman Fashami, Rahime & Mahavarpour, Nasrin & Khodayari, Maryam, 2022. "Let us talk about something: The evolution of e-WOM from the past to the future," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 663-689.
    19. Wen, Xiaohan (Hannah) & Kim, Shinhye & Bowen, Melanie, 2023. "Doing good by sharing messages: An investigation of “You Share, We Donate” campaigns and how they can attain viral success," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    20. Ouidade Sabri, 2017. "Does Viral Communication Context Increase the Harmfulness of Controversial Taboo Advertising?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(2), pages 235-247, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:amsrev:v:10:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s13162-019-00152-w. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.