1. Viral Marketing Strategies
on Facebook
Analysis, experimentations and case studies
on initial seeding populations
Ph.D. dissertation defended by Nasri Messarra, on Dec. 08, 2015 before the following jury:
Anne Mione
Professeur à l'Université de Montpellier
Directeur de thèse
Christine Balagué
Maître de Conférences HDR, Telecom Ecole de
Management, Paris
Rapporteur
Gilles Paché
Professeur à l'Université d'Aix Marseille
Rapporteur
Frédéric Le Roy
Professeur à l'Université de Montpellier
Examinateur
Gilles N'Goala
Professeur à l'Université de Montpellier
Examinateur
Laurence Saglietto
Maître de conférences HDR à l'Université de Nice
Examinateur

2. 2
Context
2
Contexte Littérature Problématique Méthode Résultats Discussion
• 1 400 000 000 users on Facebook (Social Bakers, 2015)
• 936 000 000 daily active users (Social Bakers, 2015)
• Positive mobilisation: the “ice-bucket challenge”, 2 400 000 user generated
videos on Facebook (Phing & Yazdanifard, 2014),
$98 200 000 in donations against $2 700 000 usually (BBC News, 2014)
• Negative mobilisation: Pampers, Nestlé, Caribou, Bershka… (Fournier &
Avery, 2011) – Procter & Gamble’s shares drop by 27% (Bloomberg, 2010)
• Brands have to consider the positive and the negative impact of virality on
online social networks and identify the means to control marketing
strategies in this new promising but dangerous environment.

3. Literature
3
Contexte Littérature Problématique Méthode Résultats Discussion
Graph theory (Euler, 1786; Harary, 1969) and its
applications in sociology (Granovetter, 1973)
The value of a social network (Reed, 2001)
The diffusion of information (Hinz & al., 2011; Smith
& al., 2014)
Virality (Hinz & al, 2001; Booth & Matic, 2001;
Bampo & al., 2008)
Initial seeding populations (Hinz & al., 2011; Watts
& Dodds, 2007; Liu-Thompkins, 2012)

4. Research Problem
4
Contexte Littérature Problématique Méthode Résultats Discussion
How to create initial seeding populations to optimize viral
marketing strategies on Facebook?
Viral Marketing
Strategy
The Messenger
(Valente, 2010)
Message /
Content
(Rowley, 2008)
Network
Structure
(Bampo, 2008)
Initial seeding
populations (Liu-
Thompkins, 2012)
Behavior of the
recipients
(Arndt, 1967)

5. Method,Experiments
andWorkinprogress
5
Contexte Littérature Problématique Méthode Résultats DiscussionViral Marketing Strategies on Facebook
Initial Seeding Populations
Nasri Messarra, Work in Progress, 2016
OptimizingInitialSeeding
Populations
SocialNetworksand
Marketing
UsingInitialSeeding
PopulationsforDiffusion
Synthesis: Facebook channels and
marketing strategies
- to be published in Proche-Orient
Etudes en management, Nov. 2016 -
Spartacus Experiment: is a network
of hubs a good seeding population?
----- EURAS Proceedings, 2012 -----
--- Article to be written ----
Experience 3: Easily Influenced
People to diffuse NWoM
---- INSNA, 2014 ----
---- Dauphine, 2014 ----
---- JAR – Rejected third review ----
--- to be resubmitted to another
journal ----
Experience 4: Finding political bridging nodes on Facebook
-- Marketing Science Conf., 2015 --
- rejected by JEM: “The paper presents a case comprising very interesting insights into
online social networks from a political perspective and a self-developed social media
analytic tool. You have done your research quite well. However, I am very sorry to inform
you that your paper due to its political subject and, in particular, the problem it addresses
(identifying political bridging nodes) does not fit in the scope of the Journal Electronic
Markets” -
Experience 5: SWT and
Personal Branding on
Facebook
---- ICTO, 2016 ----
---- Best paper Award ---
--- Submitted to MKSC (8/
16) -
Experience 1: Can we recreate
Facebook users’ social graph?
---- Article on fake Profiles as a
diffusion vector --
---- Article on ethics in research on
OSN (Chapter 2 of the thesis) –
paper in progress
Friend or Brand? The choice of
Facebook channel for viral marketing
- The article was rejected by JIM: “The
paper contains some interesting ideas,
but does not far enough […]
Some proof of concept is needed.” -
A two years experiment has been
conducted and the article will be
resubmitted in 2 months

6. Experiment 1: Rebuilding the hidden network
of friends of Facebook users
6
Contexte Littérature Problématique Méthode Résultats Discussion
Problem
Can we
rebuild the
network
structure of
the hidden
friends of a
Facebook
user? Method
4 real and 4
fake
profiles
using the
“mutual
friends”
function
Results
Between
4% and
28% of the
social
graph of
each user is
rebuilt

7. The “Spartacus” experiment – Is a network
of hubs a good seeding population?
7
Contexte Littérature Problématique Méthode Résultats Discussion
Problem Can we create
a network of
hubs around a
fake profile?
Will this
network be a
good seeding
population
(Hinz & al.)? Method
Creation of a
fake profile
that sends
requests to
“somebodies”
(Booth &
Matic) only.
2 steps
experiments (2
years and 4
years).
Results
264 friends
attracted after
the critical
mass of 200
friends.
A fake profile is
not a good
vector for
information
diffusion.

8. Experiment 3: The determinant role of the initial seeding
population in the diffusion of NWOM
8
Contexte Littérature Problématique Méthode Résultats Discussion
Problem Can a population
of « easily
influenced
people » (Watts &
Dodds) diffuse
NWOM
efficiently?
Method
Attraction of 300
engaged
consumers to a
network of
friends.
Diffusing negative
posts to this
newly created
population
Results
Virality increase
of 400%
Messages Négatifs Sur la page de
l’entreprise
Sur les faux profils Différen
ce
Fans engagés 11 37 +236%
Engagement (likes,
commentaires)
15 77 +413%
Reciprocation
(communication
d’utilisateur à
utilisateur)
0% 14.8% +14.8%

9. Experiment 4: Finding political bridging nodes on
Facebook
9
Contexte Littérature Problématique Méthode Résultats Discussion
Problem Can we find political
bridging nodes on
Facebook to use as
an initial seeding
population to
diffuse new ideas
(Burt)?
Method
A triangulation
system between
the networks of 3
politicians of
different
orientations
A network of
more than 15,000
users with
300,000
connections
between them
Results
3,839 bridging
nodes found
between the two
main political
groups in
Lebanon

10. 10
Contexte Littérature Problématique Méthode Résultats Discussion
Synthesis: Rethinking marketing on Facebook
Problem
Research and
pratice are
focused on viral
marketing on
Facebook without
consideration for
the channel used
(pages, groups,
Profiles)
Methods
We create pivot
tables and
consider several
marketing
techniques on
different
Facebook
channels
Results
Marketing
method
Facebook
Profiles
Facebook
Groups
Facebook
Pages
Mass X
Niche X
Viral X
Relational X X
Viral Marketing Criteria Timelines (Personal) Groups Pages
Content1 Yes Yes Yes
Network Structure2 Yes Limited Limited
Behavior of the recipients3 Can be anticipated Can be anticipated Can be anticipated
Seeding Strategy4 Yes Limited to No Limited to Broad
Messenger5 Yes Yes Untrusted
Score 5/5 3/5 2/5

11. 11
Contexte Littérature Problématique Méthode Résultats Discussion
A case of personal branding: Modifying the initial
seeding population over time
Problem
Can we optimize
the seeding
population of a
Facebook brand
over time?
Method
We modify the network
structure and the initial
seeding population with
every new post by
introducing weak ties to
the network (Granovetter,
Burt) and rejecting friend
requests from strong
links.
Results
A significant
increase of
engagements
(likes, comments,
shares) over two
years.
Statuses are
shared and
republished in
news papers.
Statuses
published in a
book
N Maximum Sum Mean Std. Deviation
Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic
Likes 103 5225 20.65 18.819
Comments 31 1160 4.58 5.143
Shares 32 323 1.28 3.606
Valid N (listwise) 253

12. Contributions
• Initial seeding populations on Facebook
• Negative WoM on Facebook
• Viral marketing
• The creation and use of fake profiles on Facebook
Theoretical
• Different methods to extract and use social graphs
on Facebook
Methodological
• Viral marketing strategies on Facebook with optimization of
the channel and initial seeding populations
• A personal branding strategy on Facebook
• Suggestion of new marketing strategies to use on Facebook
on different channels
Managerial
12
Contexte Littérature Problématique Méthode Résultats Discussion

13. Limits
• Experiments on a Lebanese population: cultural differences?
• Some experiments limited to a few hundred people. The need to
push the experiments further on larger populations, different
situations, etc.
• The need to better understand the reactions of Facebook users
in each experiment.
• The need to convert the experiments to mathematical models.
• Our experiments bring answers to some problems but opens the
door to many questions. The need to push forward…
13
Contexte Littérature Problématique Méthode Résultats Discussion