Critical Factors in Viral Marketing Campaigns

Int. Journal of Business Science and Applied Management, Vol 3, Issue 1, 2008

Internet-induced marketing techniques: Critical factors in viral marketing campaigns
Maria Woerndl empirica Gesellschaft fur Kommunikations- und Technologieforschung mbH Oxfordstr. 2, 53111 Bonn, Germany Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] Email: maria [e-mail] Savvas Papagiannidis Business School, Newcastle University Armstrong Building, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Michael Bourlakis Business School, Brunel University Elliott Jaques Building, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3PH, United Kingdom Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Feng Li Armstrong Building, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Abstract The rapid diffusion of the Internet and the emergence of various social constructs facilitated by Internet technologies are changing the drivers that define how marketing techniques are developed and refined. This paper identifies critical factors for viral marketing, an Internet-based ‘word-of-mouth’ marketing technique. Based on existing knowledge, five types of viral marketing factors that may critically influence the success of viral marketing campaigns are identified. These factors are the overall structure of the campaign, the characteristics of the product or service, the content of the message, the characteristics of the diffusion and, the peer-to-peer information conduit. The paper discusses three examples of viral marketing campaigns and identifies the specific factors in each case that influence its success. The paper concludes with a viral marketing typology differentiating between