The Impact of Viral Marketing on the Competitiveness of Iraqi Private Colleges: An Applied Study

Background: Interest in viral marketing has increased in higher education because digital platforms enable institutions to disseminate information quickly, interact with stakeholders and support low-cost promotional activities. In Iraqi private colleges, however, the relationship between specific viral marketing dimensions and institutional competitiveness requires focused empirical examination. Aims: This research aimed to identify the impact of viral marketing dimensions, namely e-mail, websites, social networking sites and WhatsApp, on the competitiveness of Iraqi private colleges, represented by Al-Hikma University College and Al-Bayan University. Study Design: A descriptive-analytical cross-sectional design was adopted to examine the relationship between the study variables within the selected colleges. Methodology: Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire comprising 34 items. The questionnaire was distributed to 175 managers and employees in the selected colleges. The first five items addressed demographic variables, 15 items measured viral marketing and 14 items measured competitiveness. Data were analysed using SPSS version 26. Arithmetic means, standard deviations, Pearson correlation coefficients and simple linear regression were used to describe the responses and test the hypotheses. Results: The findings indicated a statistically significant positive relationship between viral marketing and competitiveness at the level of statistical significance reported in the study. The overall correlation coefficient was 0.618, and the regression results showed that viral marketing explained 0.382 of the change in competitiveness. WhatsApp ranked first among the viral marketing dimensions, followed by social media, websites and e-mail. Among the competitiveness dimensions, technological capability ranked first. Conclusion: The results indicate that the use of viral marketing supports the competitiveness of the selected Iraqi private colleges. Greater attention to websites and strategic competencies may strengthen the effectiveness of these institutions' marketing activities.