The DOI matches its Crossref record; 42 of the 43 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Valuable Virality
Open accessAbstract
Given recent interest in social media, many brands now create content that they hope consumers will view and share with peers. While some campaigns indeed go “viral,” their value to the brand is limited if they do not boost brand evaluation or increase purchase. Consequently, a key question is how to create valuable virality, or content that is not only shared but also beneficial to the brand. Share data from hundreds of real online ads, as well as controlled laboratory experiments, demonstrate that compared with informative appeals (which focus on product features), emotional appeals (which use drama, mood, music, and other emotion-eliciting strategies) are more likely to be shared. Informative appeals, in contrast, boost brand evaluations and purchase because the brand is an integral part of the ad content. By combining the benefits of both approaches, emotional brand-integral ads boost sharing while also bolstering brand-related outcomes. The authors’ framework sheds light on how companies can generate valuable virality and the mechanisms underlying these effects.
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“Ad campaigns can be designed to increase the likelihood that they are shared (i.e.go viral [37])”
From Two social lives: how differences between online and offline interaction influence social outcomes (2020) · cites this paper as [37]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Akpinar, E., & Berger, J.
- Affiliations
- MEF University
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Corresponding author
- Berger, Jonah
- ORCID
- Berger, Jonah
- Venue
- Journal of Marketing Research
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2017-04
- Volume
- 54
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 318-330
- ISSN
- 0022-2437 (ISSN-L)
- 1547-7193
- OpenAlex
- W4236726206
- Cited by
- 267
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 51 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 49 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 4
- FWCI
- 39.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Marketing Research (publishedVersion)
- VU Research Portal (publishedVersion)
- MEF University Institutional Repository (MEF University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Auburn University
- IJURR Foundation
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Digital Marketing and Social Media
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Marketing and Advertising Strategies
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
- Keywords
- social media marketing, emotional appeal, content sharing, brand evaluation, purchase behavior, online advertising, consumer sharing behavior
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