 Viral Marketing: How to Spread the Word via Mobile DeviceShintaro Okazaki Chapter 8 in Marketing Metaphors and Metamorphosis, 2008, pp 118-131 from Palgrave Macmillan Abstract: Abstract Broadly defined, viral marketing is the process of encouraging honest communication between pre-existing consumer social networks (Phelps et al., 2004). More specifically, it seeks to increase brand awareness exponentially, through processes similar to the spread of a viral epidemic. Thus, the concept of viral marketing fits into the metaphor construct because it highlights information transmission as if it were an infection in living organisms. In a way, this term helps us to comprehend human relationships as a physical bond that can be connected, and therefore also contaminated, by a ‘buzz’. Buzz is another metaphor, and describes ‘contagious’ commentary, about products, services, brands, and ideas, that catches the attention of ‘noisy’ enthusiasts who spread the word via electronic or face-to-face conversation in social networks. Thus, the buzz helps firms to give people reasons to talk (often in entertaining and/or informative ways) about their products and services, and makes it easier for that conversation to take place. In a sense, this is the major benefit of using this metaphoric term. Keywords: Mobile Phone; Mobile Device; Mobile User; Short Message Service; Mobile Internet (search for similar items in EconPapers) There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-22753-8_8 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan |
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