The Viral Effect on Brand Image in Fashion TikTok

Vladimir Zhechev and Maria-Yoana Gercheva
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Vladimir Zhechev: University of Economics - Varna, Bulgaria
Maria-Yoana Gercheva: University of Economics - Varna, Bulgaria

Economic Alternatives, 2025, issue 1, 31-49

Abstract: Given the substantially decreasing attention span of people and the ever-growing amounts of marketing communications that fashion brands spread out, marketers have been prompted to reconsider the tools for capturing the attention of customers. In this regard, viral marketing (VM) has established itself as an effective and far-reaching instrument for developing and sustaining brand image in social media (SM) context. The purpose of the article is to establish if there is a relationship between viral marketing and a fashion brand’s image and whether it is positive or negative in the context of the social media platform TikTok. A novel conceptual model is designed based on existing and specifically adapted constructs to measure the nexuses between the domains of interest. Structural equation modelling (SEM) is applied to evaluate the potential relationships between the observed variables. The findings support the main postulate that viral marketing influences a fashion brand’s image in a positive way and in one instance – vice versa. This research builds over studies that have observed the relationship between word-of-mouth (WOM) and brand image and fills a gap by focusing explicitly on VM.

Keywords: viral marketing; brand image; fashion marketing; TikTok (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D91 M31 M37 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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