Nowadays the internet has become more and more important in today’s technology addicted society. Consumers of today use the internet as a tool to communicate, do shopping and search for information. Hence, the internet has become a convenient way for organizations to reach out to consumers in an easy and cheap way, specially through the tool viral marketing. In this paper we research the phenomenon brand awareness and brand association affected by viral marketing. This is done through two research questions: How does a commercial affect consumers to create a network Viral marketing campaign? And Why do consumers purchase a brand when they are reacting negatively on a commercial?.   To answer the research questions we chose a well discussed Swedish commercial from Apoliva as an example, especially since the commercial has received many negative reactions. Based on the commercial, we made a survey on the internet community site Facebook to measure how and why users reacted to the commercial and spread the reactions further; if and how their opinions changed toward the commercial and if and why consumers buy from the brand.   The conclusions we draw from the research questions are that consumers tend to buy a brand although they do not like the commercial related to the brand, since the commercial itself is not of importance and in most cases the consumers do not relate the commercial with the brand. Furthermore, consumers tend to discuss a commercial if it is not a mainstream commercial. Although consumers discuss with their network on the internet, most of the discussion tend to be mouth-to-mouth and the spreading of opinion on the internet is mostly to vent their feelings.

The rapid penetration of the Internet and the prevalence of various social media facilitated by new technologies provide new opportunities for how marketing techniques are developed and refined. The creation of viral marketing has been driven by technological innovations and cultural changes. Responding to marketing trends and catering to consumers’ psychological demands and behavioral changes, viral marketing represents the latest online customer-centric marketing (Shukla, 2010). Extending the advertising effects of word-of-mouth (WOM) communication and Internet marketing, viral marketing has demonstrated considerable success and utility in a promotional phase and development process of a product and/or service. This study intends to illustrate the benefits and challenges of viral marketing. The effects and concerns with the adoption of viral marketing are reinforced by previous research and findings from marketer and consumer focus groups. This thesis will contribute to building a theoretical and empirical foundation for viral marketing research and professional practice.

The rapid penetration of the Internet and the prevalence of various social media facilitated by new technologies provide new opportunities for how marketing techniques are developed and refined. The creation of viral marketing has been driven by technological innovations and cultural changes. Responding to marketing trends and catering to consumers’ psychological demands and behavioral changes, viral marketing represents the latest online customer-centric marketing (Shukla, 2010). Extending the advertising effects of word-of-mouth (WOM) communication and Internet marketing, viral marketing has demonstrated considerable success and utility in a promotional phase and development process of a product and/or service. This study intends to illustrate the benefits and challenges of viral marketing. The effects and concerns with the adoption of viral marketing are reinforced by previous research and findings from marketer and consumer focus groups. This thesis will contribute to building a theoretical and empirical foundation for viral marketing research and professional practice.

Date: May 30, 2012  University: Mälardalen University, Sweden  Program: MIMA- International Marketing  Course Name: Master Thesis (EFO705)  Title: Creating Brand Awareness Through Event Marketing  The Off-Field Competition of Sportswear Companies in the Olympics  Authors: Laura Dolge and Malin Marmbrandt  Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to research how companies are promoting themselves efficiently to increase brand awareness through advertisement in major sporting events, through viral marketing and athlete endorsement.  Research Questions: Firstly: What are the major differences and similarities between the official and non-official sponsors and their marketing activities when creating brand awareness in sporting events?  Secondly: How do official and non-official sponsoring companies increase brand awareness in sporting events through viral marketing activities?  Thirdly: How do official and non-official sponsoring companies increase brand awareness in sporting events through athlete endorsement?  Method: Data was collected with a qualitative multi-method approach that consists of observations of online social networks and media (netnography), and semi-structured interviews was applied.  Conclusion: The main differences between the official and the non-official sponsor´s marketing campaigns are that the official sponsor has the advantage of using the event’s logo in its campaigns, and is able to advertise during the event. Whilst, there are many rules that restricts the non-official company´s campaigns. Regardless, non-official sponsors are still able to associate themselves with the event by using creative viral marketing campaigns and endorsing athletes, thus create brand awareness by so called ambush marketing.

Enterprises spread messages usingcomputer networks has become a trend due to popularity of the Internet. It is important for enterprises to select appropriate network media to achieve high effectiveness. It¡¦s even more important for Internet marketing companies to deploy marketing strategies given all possible media selections. The network media is progressing with new technical applications, such as email, blog, micro-blog and social network, etc. Each has its own development background and can achieve different effectiveness. The study of this thesis is to explore the differences of spread rates, diffusion time distribution etc. by spreading the same network messages with different network media (such as Email, social network, Facebook etc.). It will help enterprises to understandthe characteristics and effectiveness of each network medium. As a result, enterprisescan learn how to choose the right media to get the best message diffusion result. The study shows that various message carriers willexhibit different effectivenessdue to the nature of message contents. For example, commercial messages can be best delivered with Facebook while messages of special interests can be effectively delivered by email. Regardless what medium is chosen, two common phenomena can be observed: high click rate within the first 24 hours, and the low click rate in midnight.Enterprises will do a good spread messages plan using computer networks in known the two common phenomena.

With the common adoption of the Internet and Web in the recent years, the WOM has been changed to electronic WOM (e- WOM). E-WOM is the positive or negative statements made about a product, company, or media personality that are made widely available via the Internet. It has become an important source of information for the consumer to make decisions including purchase and more and more people have noticed the importance of its applications. The goal of this research is to investigate ¡§message passing along behavior intention¡¨ (MPBI) by using Social Cognitive Theory and Social Capital Theory from the viewpoints of people and environment. We use survey method to collect the data and use PLS to analyze it. And the results reveal that when people passing message along to others, they care about how close these messages are with them instead of how correct these messages are. It implies that MPBI has the nature of daily life, and therefore, people will be more willing to pass daily life messages. Besides, individuals tend to pass along messages to people who have substantial relationship with him/her. We also found people pass message along to people not for reputation but for expressing their affections to others. In addition, message passing Self-efficacy is also important to MPBI. We also classified MPBI into two types ¡X the one is hedonic and the other is utilitarian. The results indicate that people have different behavioral pattern when they deal with different kind of MPBI. In sum, MPBI is a channel for people to maintain the relationship with others and the findings of this study provides some suggestions for the e-WOM research.

Fachhochschule, Diplomarbeit--Stuttgart, 2005.

Aim: The Internet has provided a medium for word of mouth and its electronic extension, also known as viral marketing. In the hospitality and tourism industry, use of the internet has caused drastic changes. Consumers are now more used to gathering information about their destinations through online word of mouth The aim of this thesis is to achieve an understanding of the concept of viral marketing and its suitability, as well as its primary link the concept of word of mouth and its relevance to customer relations, in the hospitality and tourism industry of Sweden. Method: A qualitative research approach was used for compiling the primary data of this thesis. Semi-structured face to face interviews as well as structured email interviews were used to gather the empirical findings from two case companies. Secondary data for the theoretical study of this paper was gathered from scientific journals, books and the Internet. Result & Conclusions: The hospitality and tourism industry rely more on word of mouth advertising because of the intangible nature of their services. Therefore, they aim to exceed customer satisfaction so as to generate positive word of mouth. The concept of viral marketing is minimally utilized at the moment, but its use is more likely to be maximized in the future. Suggestions for future research: The results of this thesis were based on a small sample size of the representatives of the hospitality and tourism industry. It would be advisable in the future to conduct a quantitative or a combined qualitative and quantitative study with a bigger sample size that would also include the opinions of the customers.   Contribution of the thesis: This research delivers realistic consequences from the diverse extension of internet users in the Swedish hospitality and tourism industry and finally indicates the promising benefits from the distribution of internet technology in combination with the involvement of individuals.

The desire of every marketer is to develop and maintain strong customer relationships. One way this can be accomplished is through effective advertising. Marketers have recently begun to brand flash mobs as a way to effectuate strong brand relationships. Even so, it is unclear whether or not the branding of flash mobs supports or frustrates this pursuit. Therefore, the goal of this thesis is to help marketers understand the potential impact that branded flash mobs may have on consumer behaviour and brand relationships. Since these interactions are complex we need to observe the convoluted whole from untangled vantage points. Marketing scholars and researchers must then attempt to understand the latent opportunities and unsuspecting dangers when branding a flash mob. Toward answering this end, four distinct research studies were used to examine the phenomenon from four different perspectives. The aim of the first paper is twofold. First, it deductively seeks to understand how to categorize branded flash mobs within the marketing literature through an historical and cultural analysis of the phenomenon. Exploratory in nature, this study then employs a mixed methods approach to understand how marketers are currently using flash mobs, and more importantly, if branded flash mobs are an effective tool of communication and persuasion. In the second paper, a field experiment was conducted to assess the impact of a branded flash mob on consumers’ emotions, consumer experience and connectedness in a public market. Qualitative interviews were used to capture the data. Shifting perspectives, the third paper seeks to understand why some branded flash mobs fail to ‘go viral’. Using of a number of focus groups, participants were asked to watch several branded flash mob videos and discuss their willingness to share them online (e.g., email, Facebook, or Twitter). Toward a better understanding of the impact of branded flash mobs on brand equity, the final paper evaluates viewers’ attitude toward the ad. Using netnographic techniques (Kozinets, 2002) 2,882 YouTube comments from three virally successful branded flash mobs ads were examined to understand how branded flash mobs affect brand equity. Responses grouped into one of four archetypical attitudes, each of which has a distinct impact on brand equity. Motivated by the potential for widespread exposure at a relatively low cost, marketers continue to produce branded flash mobs. Sometimes they are fresh and creative, while at others they are out of tune with the spirit of the phenomenon. This thesis uncovers the impact of these efforts on consumer behaviour and brand equity, and concludes with a guide for managers to consider when planning their next branded flash mob. An acknowledgement of the limitations and an outline for directions of future research are also presented. / <p>QC 20140521</p>

The increased use of social media in recent years has attracted the attention of different kinds of nonprofit organisations. The purpose of this study is to identify a foundation for viral strategies for nonprofit organisations as well as to understand the current interactivity between the organisation and its followers in social media. Following that we have chosen the research question: In what ways can nonprofit organisations develop viral marketing in social media? The study has a qualitative research methodology with empirical findings as base. We have throughout the research process strived for an inductive nature in the study though there are deductive elements. The materials used to strengthen the study are from primary sources as well as secondary sources with the primary sources being semi-structured interviews. We have identified that the nonprofit organisations in the study have an active presence in social media yet do not fully exploit the high interactivity that social media can facilitate. Our findings also show that a viral campaign strategy is absent due to minimal resources though there is a willingness of making viral content.