Perspectives of
viral marketing
among managers:
an Internet based
assessment
Università Master SE 2007 - 2008
della of Science in Lugano, May 26
Communication
Svizzera
and Economics
Italiana
©2007 Master’s Thesis by Veronika Kurucz

1 The context of viral marketing I Frameworks I Research Focus I Methodology I Results & Implications
Shift in traditional advertising
Empowered customers
Blogs
Social networks
Interactivity Viral
“Participatory web” Consumer Marketing
communities
Widgets
Web 2.0
Università Master SE 2007 - 2008
della of Science in Lugano, May 26
Communication
Svizzera
and Economics
Italiana
©2007 Master’s Thesis by Veronika Kurucz

1 The context of viral marketing I Frameworks I Research Focus I Methodology I Results & Implications
A few example:
Università Master SE 2007 - 2008
della of Science in Lugano, May 26
Communication
Svizzera
and Economics
Italiana
©2007 Master’s Thesis by Veronika Kurucz

The context of viral marketing I 2 Frameworks I Research Focus I Methodology I Results & Implications
Some explanations from the literature
Seth Godin - Unleashing the Ideavirus:
“Viral marketing is an ideavirus”
Emanuel Rosen said in an exclusive interview related on his book, The
Anatomy of Buzz:
“I view Viral Marketing as a subset of Buzz
Marketing”
Malcolm Gladwell - The Tipping Point:
“…if there can be epidemics of crime or epidemics
of fashion, there must be all kinds of things just as
contagious as viruses”.
Everett M. Rogers - Di!usion of Innovations:
“…he process by which an innovation is
communicated through certain channels over
time among the members of a social system”
Università Master SE 2007 - 2008
della of Science in Lugano, May 26
Communication
Svizzera
and Economics
Italiana
©2007 Master’s Thesis by Veronika Kurucz

The context of viral marketing I 2 Frameworks I Research Focus I Methodology I Results & Implications
Viral Marketing vs. Word of Mouth Marketing
VM WOM
>> “..implied endorsement from
a friend.” (Jurvetson, 1998) x x
>> “amplification of initial marketing
e!orts” (Thomas, 2004) x x
>> activates C2C & consumer-to-
marketer communications x x
>> online x x
>> o\"ine x x
>> delivers product recommendations Not necessarily x
Università Master SE 2007 - 2008
della of Science in Lugano, May 26
Communication
Svizzera
and Economics
Italiana
©2007 Master’s Thesis by Veronika Kurucz

?
The context of viral marketing I Frameworks I 3 Research Focus I Methodology I Results & Implications
Viral Marketing - both academic and business literature use it,
there are different interpretations with no consistency
Questions determining the research focus
>> Can we refer to viral marketing as buzz marketing or WOMM?
>> What makes an advertising campaign viral?
>> Do new technological developments influence whether a product
or service can be communicated in a “contagious” way?
Università Master SE 2007 - 2008
della of Science in Lugano, May 26
Communication
Svizzera
and Economics
Italiana
©2007 Master’s Thesis by Veronika Kurucz

The context of viral marketing I Frameworks I Research Focus I 4 Methodology I Results & Implications
Internet based discussions
Venue: large international online
community -
>> 7 questions posted
>> 71 answers from 52 respondents (24
sent back their data)
>> 77% of North America
>> 87% male
>> 78% of the answerers were from
people in executive positions (co-founder,
owner, partner, president, head of,
entrepreneur etc.)
>> 94% manager, some of them at
renowned companies marketing department
Università Master SE 2007 - 2008
della of Science in Lugano, May 26
Communication
Svizzera
and Economics
Italiana
©2007 Master’s Thesis by Veronika Kurucz

The context of viral marketing I Frameworks I Research Focus I Methodology I 5 Results & Implications
No clear definitions, opinions strengthened what is communicated in
business and academic literature:
>> viral marketing is a complex phenomenon
>> multiply approaches and considerations
The most important aspects distinguishing it from
other marketing methods:
>> the way of influence exerted on consumers
>> and the behaviour generated on the recipient of the message
>> the context
>> the viral agent/”ideavirus” that people will be willing to endorse in their social networks
- both online and offline.
Università Master SE 2007 - 2008
della of Science in Lugano, May 26
Communication
Svizzera
and Economics
Italiana
©2007 Master’s Thesis by Veronika Kurucz

The context of viral marketing I Frameworks I Research Focus I Methodology I 5 Results & Implications
Future directions:
>> focus groups - improving the research design and
execution
>> content analysis - to elicit a conceptual framework for viral
marketing
>> conceptualising - examine how the concept of viral
marketing relates to other concepts - costumer referrals,
consumer communities, opinion leaders…etc.
Università Master SE 2007 - 2008
della of Science in Lugano, May 26
Communication
Svizzera
and Economics
Italiana
©2007 Master’s Thesis by Veronika Kurucz

Perspectives of viral marketing among managers: an Internet based assessment
“I read somewhere that everybody on this planet
is separated by only six other people.”
(John Guare, Six Degrees of Separation)
Thank you for your attention!
Università Master SE 2007 - 2008
della of Science in Lugano, May 26
Communication
Svizzera
and Economics
Italiana
©2007 Master’s Thesis by Veronika Kurucz