The effect of socialization and maven characteristics on viral advertising
Keywords:
Viral advertising, Consumer Socialization Theory, Social Network Theory, market mavenAbstract
The purpose of this article is to study the social aspects of viral advertising, including differences related to social influencers analyzed in the Consumer Socialization Theory, such as family, the tie strength element from the Social Network Theory, as well as maven characteristics. The study uses a survey distributed to a national consumer sample from the U.S., that is analyzed in a multivariate regression procedure. The analysis shows the importance of social factors for consumers’ viral intentions, integrating the socialization theory and market maven theory in the viral research. The results support a positive relationship between consumers’ socialization and communication related to advertising with their family and their viral intentions, showing that reference groups are important for viral advertising. This underlines the effect that the close interpersonal circle has on consumers’ involvement in viral communication. The statistical analysis also found a psychosocial characteristic, such as consumers’ market maven traits, to be positively related to viral intentions. Attitude toward the ad is also a significant influencer of viral intentions, as expected, showing that a positive impression about the ad is positively related to its viral potential. Overall, different social factors are found to be essential antecedents of viral ads, and future research can further focus on this topic, to create a social profile of consumers prone to participate in viral advertising.
References
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Chiu, H.-C., Hsieh, Y.-C., Kao, Y.-H., & Lee, M. (2007). The determinants of email receivers' disseminating behaviors on the Internet. Journal of Advertising Research, 47(4), 524-534.
Cho, S., Huh, J., & Faber, R. J. (2014). The influence of sender trust and advertiser trust on multistage effects of viral advertising. Journal of Advertising, 43(1), 100–114.
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de Gregorio, F., & Sung, Y. (2010). Understanding attitudes toward and behaviors in response to product placement: a consumer socialization framework. Journal of Advertising, 39(1), 83-96.
Haenlein, M., & Libai, B. (2017). Seeding, referral, and recommendation: creating profitable word-of-mouth programs. California Management Review, 59(2), 68–91.
Harrison-Walker, L. J. (2001). The measurement of word-of-mouth communication and an investigation of service quality and customer commitment as potential antecedents. Journal of Service Research, 4(1), 60-75.
Hayes, J.L., King, K.W., & Ramirez Jr., A. (2016). Brands, friends, & viral advertising: a social exchange perspective on the ad referral processes. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 36, 31–45.
Ho, J. Y.C., & Dempsey, M. (2010). Viral marketing: Motivations to forward online content. Journal of Business Research, 63(9/10), 1000-1021.
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Ketelaar, P. E., Janssen, L., Vergeer, M., van Reijmersdal, E. A., Crutzen, R., & van ‘t Riet, J. (2016). The success of viral ads: Social and attitudinal predictors of consumer pass-on behavior on social network sites. Journal of Business Research, 69, 2603–2613.
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Kirby, J., & P. Marsden (2006). Connected Marketing. The Viral, Buzz and Word of Mouth Revolution. Oxford, Burlington: Elsevier.
Kozinets, R. V., de Valck, K., Wojnicki, A. C., & Wilner, S. J. (2010). Networked narratives: understanding word-of-mouth marketing in online communities. Journal of Marketing, 74, 71–89.
Lachance, M. J., Legault, F., & Bujold, N. (2000). Family structure, parent–child communication, and adolescent participation in family consumer tasks and decisions. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 29, 125–152.
Laczniak, R. N., & Carlson, L. (1989). Examining the influence of attitude-toward-the-ad on brand attitudes. Journal of Business Research, 19, 303-311.
Laughlin, J. D., & MacDonald, J. B. (2010). Identifying market mavens online by their social behaviors in community generated media. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 14(1), 55-70.
Lueg, J. E., & Finney, R. Z. (2007). Interpersonal communication in the consumer socialization process: scale development and validation. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 15(1), 25-39.
MacKenzie, S.B., Lutz, R.J., & Belch, G. (1986). The role of attitude toward the ad as a mediator of advertising effectiveness: a test of competing explanations. Journal of Marketing Research, 23(2), 130-143.
MacKenzie, S.B., Lutz, R.J. (1989). An empirical examination of the structural antecedents of attitude toward the ad in an advertising pretesting context. The Journal of Marketing, 53(2), 48-65.
Mangleburg, T. F., Grewal, D., & Bristol, T. (1997). Socialization, gender, and adolescent’s self-reports of their generalized use of product labels. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 31, 255–279.
Maxham III, J., & Netemeyer, R. (2003). Firms reap what they sow: the effects of shared values and perceived organizational justice on customers. evaluations of complaint handling. Journal of Marketing, 67, 46-62.
Moschis, G. P. (1985). The role of family communication in consumer socialization of children and adolescents. Journal of Consumer Research, 11(4), 898-913.
Moschis, G. P. (1987). Consumer Socialization: A Life-Cycle Perspective. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
Moschis, G. P., & Churchill, Jr., G. A. (1978). Consumer socialization: a theoretical and empirical analysis. Journal of Marketing Research, 15, 599-609.
Muehling, D. D., & McCann, M. (1993). Attitude toward the ad: a review. Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 15(2), 25-58.
Norman, A. T., & Russell, C. A. (2006). The pass-along effect: investigating word-of-mouth effects on online survey procedures. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(4). Retrieved from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol11/issue4/norman.html.
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Petrescu, M., Korgaonkar, P., & Gironda, J. (2015). Viral advertising: a field experiment on viral intentions and purchase intentions. Journal of Internet Commerce, 14(3), 384-405.
Petrescu, M., Dobre, C., & Milovan-Ciuta, A. (2018). Social Bonds and Millennial Consumers Activity in Social Networks. International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, forthcoming. Retrieved from http://www.inderscience.com/info/ingeneral/forthcoming.php?jcode=ijima
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Schultz-Jones, B. (2009). Examining information behavior through social networks. an interdisciplinary review. Journal of Documentation, 65(4), 592-631.
Scott, J. (2000), Social Network Analysis: A Handbook, 2nd ed. London: Sage Publications.
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Sheikhahmadi, A., & Nematbakhsh, M. A. (2017). Identification of multi-spreader users in social networks for viral marketing. Journal of Information Science, 43(3), 412–423.
Smith, T., Coyle, J. R., Lightfoot, E., & Scott, A. (2007). Reconsidering models of influence: the relationship between consumer social networks and word-of-mouth effectiveness. Journal of Advertising Research, 47(4), 387-397.
Steyer, A., Garcia-Bardidia, R., & Quester, P. (2007), “Modélisation de la structure sociale des groupes de discussion sur Internet: implications pour le contrôle du marketing viral,” Recherche et Applications en Marketing, 22(3), 29-44.
Totterdell, P., Holman, D., & Hukin, A. (2008). Social networkers: measuring and examining individual differences in propensity to connect with others. Social Networks, 30, 283–296.
Tuten, T. L. (2008). Advertising 2.0: Social media marketing in a Web 2.0 world. Westport Connecticut, Praeger.
van Noort, G., Antheunis, M. L., & Reijmersdal, E. van (2012). Social connections and the persuasiveness of viral campaigns in social network sites: Persuasive intent as the underlying mechanism. Journal of Marketing Communications, 18(1) , 39-53.
Walsh, G., & Mitchell, V.-W. (2002). German market mavens' decision-making styles. Journal of Euromarketing, 10(4), 83-108.
Walsh, G., Gwinner, K. P., & Swanson, S. R. (2004). What makes mavens tick? Exploring the motives of market mavens' initiation of information diffusion. The Journal of Consumer Marketing, 21(2/3), 109-116.
Wang, J.-C., & Chen, C.-L. (2004). An automated tool for managing interactions in virtual communities-using social network analysis approach. Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, 14(1), 1- 26.
Ward, S. (1974). Consumer socialization. Journal of Consumer Research, 1, 1-16.
Ward, S. (1978). Contributions of socialization theory to consumer behavior research. American Behavioral Scientist, 21(4), 501-514.
Wasserman, S., & Faust, K. (1994). Social Network analysis: Methods and applications. Cambridge University Press.
Zigler, E., & Seitz, V. (1978). Changing trends in socialization theory and research. American Behavioral Scientist, 21(5), 731-756.
Arndt, J. (1971). A research note on intergenerational overlap of selected consumer variables. Markeds Kommunikasion, 3, 1-8.
Bampo, M., Ewing, M. T., Mather, D. R., Stewart, D., & Wallace, M. (2008). The effects of the social structure of digital networks on viral marketing performance. Information Systems Research, 19(3), 273–290.
Bao, T.T., & Chang, T.S. (2016). The product and timing effects of eWOM in viral marketing. International Journal of Business, 21(2), 99-113.
Benmoyal-Bouzaglo, S., & Moschis, G. P. (2009). The effects of family structure and socialization influences on compulsive consumption: a life course study in France. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 33, 49–57.
Berger, J., & Milkman, K. L. (2012). What makes online content viral? Journal of Marketing Research, 49(April), 192–205.
Brown, J. J., & Reingen, P. H. (1987). Social ties and word-of-mouth referral behavior. The Journal of Consumer Research, 14(3), 350-362.
Brown, S. P., & Stayman, D. M. (1992). Antecedents and consequences of attitude toward the ad: a meta-analysis. Journal of Consumer Research, 19(1), 34-51.
Chamlee-Wright, E., & Myers, J. A. (2008). Discovery and social learning in non-priced environments: An Austrian view of Social Network Theory. Review of Austrian Economics, 21, 151-66.
Chiu, H.-C., Hsieh, Y.-C., Kao, Y.-H., & Lee, M. (2007). The determinants of email receivers' disseminating behaviors on the Internet. Journal of Advertising Research, 47(4), 524-534.
Cho, S., Huh, J., & Faber, R. J. (2014). The influence of sender trust and advertiser trust on multistage effects of viral advertising. Journal of Advertising, 43(1), 100–114.
Chu, S.-C., & Kim, J. (2018). The current state of knowledge on electronic word-of-mouth in advertising research. International Journal of Advertising, 37(1), 1-13.
Datta, P. R., Chowdhury, D. N., & Chakraborty, B. R. (2005). Viral marketing: new form of word-of-mouth through Internet. The Business Review, 3(2), 69-75.
eMarketer (2016). Digital Advertising Snapshots. Retrieved from https://www.emarketer.com/public_media/docs/eMarketer_Digital_Advertising_Snapshot.pdf
Feick, L.F., & Price, L.L. (1987). The market maven: a diffuser of marketplace information. Journal of Marketing, 51, 83-97.
Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Gladwell, M. (2000). The Tipping Point. Boston: Little, Brown and Co.
Goldenberg, J., Libai, B., & Muller, E. (2001). Talk of the network: a complex systems look at the underlying process of word-of-mouth. Marketing Letters, 12(3), 211-223.
Goldsmith, R. E., Flynn, L. R., & Goldsmith, E. B. (2003). Innovative consumers and market mavens. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 11(4), 54-64.
Goodey, C., & East, R. (2008). Testing the market maven concept. Journal of Marketing Management, 24 (3-4), 265-282.
Granovetter, M. (1983). The strength of weak ties: A Network Theory revisited. Sociological Theory, 1, 201–33.
de Gregorio, F., & Sung, Y. (2010). Understanding attitudes toward and behaviors in response to product placement: a consumer socialization framework. Journal of Advertising, 39(1), 83-96.
Haenlein, M., & Libai, B. (2017). Seeding, referral, and recommendation: creating profitable word-of-mouth programs. California Management Review, 59(2), 68–91.
Harrison-Walker, L. J. (2001). The measurement of word-of-mouth communication and an investigation of service quality and customer commitment as potential antecedents. Journal of Service Research, 4(1), 60-75.
Hayes, J.L., King, K.W., & Ramirez Jr., A. (2016). Brands, friends, & viral advertising: a social exchange perspective on the ad referral processes. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 36, 31–45.
Ho, J. Y.C., & Dempsey, M. (2010). Viral marketing: Motivations to forward online content. Journal of Business Research, 63(9/10), 1000-1021.
Huang, C.-C., Lin, T.-C., & Lin, K.-J. (2009). Factors affecting pass-along email intentions (Paeis): Integrating the social capital and social cognition theories. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 8(3), 160-169.
Kassarjian, H. H. (1981). Low involvement: a second look. Advances in Consumer Research, 8, 31-34.
Ketelaar, P. E., Janssen, L., Vergeer, M., van Reijmersdal, E. A., Crutzen, R., & van ‘t Riet, J. (2016). The success of viral ads: Social and attitudinal predictors of consumer pass-on behavior on social network sites. Journal of Business Research, 69, 2603–2613.
Kimmel, A. J., & Kitchen, P. J. (2014). WOM and Social Media: Presaging Future Directions for Research and Practice. Journal of Marketing Communications, 20(1–2), 5–20.
Kirby, J., & P. Marsden (2006). Connected Marketing. The Viral, Buzz and Word of Mouth Revolution. Oxford, Burlington: Elsevier.
Kozinets, R. V., de Valck, K., Wojnicki, A. C., & Wilner, S. J. (2010). Networked narratives: understanding word-of-mouth marketing in online communities. Journal of Marketing, 74, 71–89.
Lachance, M. J., Legault, F., & Bujold, N. (2000). Family structure, parent–child communication, and adolescent participation in family consumer tasks and decisions. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 29, 125–152.
Laczniak, R. N., & Carlson, L. (1989). Examining the influence of attitude-toward-the-ad on brand attitudes. Journal of Business Research, 19, 303-311.
Laughlin, J. D., & MacDonald, J. B. (2010). Identifying market mavens online by their social behaviors in community generated media. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 14(1), 55-70.
Lueg, J. E., & Finney, R. Z. (2007). Interpersonal communication in the consumer socialization process: scale development and validation. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 15(1), 25-39.
MacKenzie, S.B., Lutz, R.J., & Belch, G. (1986). The role of attitude toward the ad as a mediator of advertising effectiveness: a test of competing explanations. Journal of Marketing Research, 23(2), 130-143.
MacKenzie, S.B., Lutz, R.J. (1989). An empirical examination of the structural antecedents of attitude toward the ad in an advertising pretesting context. The Journal of Marketing, 53(2), 48-65.
Mangleburg, T. F., Grewal, D., & Bristol, T. (1997). Socialization, gender, and adolescent’s self-reports of their generalized use of product labels. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 31, 255–279.
Maxham III, J., & Netemeyer, R. (2003). Firms reap what they sow: the effects of shared values and perceived organizational justice on customers. evaluations of complaint handling. Journal of Marketing, 67, 46-62.
Moschis, G. P. (1985). The role of family communication in consumer socialization of children and adolescents. Journal of Consumer Research, 11(4), 898-913.
Moschis, G. P. (1987). Consumer Socialization: A Life-Cycle Perspective. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
Moschis, G. P., & Churchill, Jr., G. A. (1978). Consumer socialization: a theoretical and empirical analysis. Journal of Marketing Research, 15, 599-609.
Muehling, D. D., & McCann, M. (1993). Attitude toward the ad: a review. Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 15(2), 25-58.
Norman, A. T., & Russell, C. A. (2006). The pass-along effect: investigating word-of-mouth effects on online survey procedures. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(4). Retrieved from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol11/issue4/norman.html.
Petrescu, M., & Korgaonkar, P. (2011). Viral concepts: definitional review. Journal of Internet Commerce, 10(3), 208-226
Petrescu, M., Korgaonkar, P., & Gironda, J. (2015). Viral advertising: a field experiment on viral intentions and purchase intentions. Journal of Internet Commerce, 14(3), 384-405.
Petrescu, M., Dobre, C., & Milovan-Ciuta, A. (2018). Social Bonds and Millennial Consumers Activity in Social Networks. International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, forthcoming. Retrieved from http://www.inderscience.com/info/ingeneral/forthcoming.php?jcode=ijima
Porter, L., & Golan, G. J. (2006). From Subservient Chickens to Brawny Men: A comparison of viral advertising to television advertising. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 6(2), 30-38.
Roy, A., Huh, J., Pfeuffer, A., & Srivastava, J. (2017). Development of Trust Scores in Social Media (TSM) Algorithm and Application to Advertising Practice and Research. Journal of Advertising, 46(2), 269–282.
Schneider, K.C., & Rodgers, W. C. (1993). Generalized marketplace influencers' ('market mavens') attitudes toward direct mail as a source of information. Journal of Direct Marketing, 7(4), 20-28.
Schultz-Jones, B. (2009). Examining information behavior through social networks. an interdisciplinary review. Journal of Documentation, 65(4), 592-631.
Scott, J. (2000), Social Network Analysis: A Handbook, 2nd ed. London: Sage Publications.
Seo, Y., Li, X., Choi, Y. K., & Yoon, S. (2018). Narrative Transportation and Paratextual Features of Social Media in Viral Advertising. Journal of Advertising, 47(1), 83–95.
Sheikhahmadi, A., & Nematbakhsh, M. A. (2017). Identification of multi-spreader users in social networks for viral marketing. Journal of Information Science, 43(3), 412–423.
Smith, T., Coyle, J. R., Lightfoot, E., & Scott, A. (2007). Reconsidering models of influence: the relationship between consumer social networks and word-of-mouth effectiveness. Journal of Advertising Research, 47(4), 387-397.
Steyer, A., Garcia-Bardidia, R., & Quester, P. (2007), “Modélisation de la structure sociale des groupes de discussion sur Internet: implications pour le contrôle du marketing viral,” Recherche et Applications en Marketing, 22(3), 29-44.
Totterdell, P., Holman, D., & Hukin, A. (2008). Social networkers: measuring and examining individual differences in propensity to connect with others. Social Networks, 30, 283–296.
Tuten, T. L. (2008). Advertising 2.0: Social media marketing in a Web 2.0 world. Westport Connecticut, Praeger.
van Noort, G., Antheunis, M. L., & Reijmersdal, E. van (2012). Social connections and the persuasiveness of viral campaigns in social network sites: Persuasive intent as the underlying mechanism. Journal of Marketing Communications, 18(1) , 39-53.
Walsh, G., & Mitchell, V.-W. (2002). German market mavens' decision-making styles. Journal of Euromarketing, 10(4), 83-108.
Walsh, G., Gwinner, K. P., & Swanson, S. R. (2004). What makes mavens tick? Exploring the motives of market mavens' initiation of information diffusion. The Journal of Consumer Marketing, 21(2/3), 109-116.
Wang, J.-C., & Chen, C.-L. (2004). An automated tool for managing interactions in virtual communities-using social network analysis approach. Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, 14(1), 1- 26.
Ward, S. (1974). Consumer socialization. Journal of Consumer Research, 1, 1-16.
Ward, S. (1978). Contributions of socialization theory to consumer behavior research. American Behavioral Scientist, 21(4), 501-514.
Wasserman, S., & Faust, K. (1994). Social Network analysis: Methods and applications. Cambridge University Press.
Zigler, E., & Seitz, V. (1978). Changing trends in socialization theory and research. American Behavioral Scientist, 21(5), 731-756.
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2019-02-21
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The effect of socialization and maven characteristics on viral advertising. (2019). Timisoara Journal of Economics and Business, 11(1), 1-20. https://www.tjeb.ro/index.php/tjeb/article/view/TJEB-vol11-2018-iss1-art1-PETRESCU
