i VIRAL ADVERTISING

198 Pages·2012·1.28 MB·English

VIRAL ADVERTISING: CONCEPTUAL AND EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF
ANTECEDENTS, CONTEXT AND ITS INFLUENCE ON PURCHASE
INTENTIONS
by
Maria Petrescu

A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of
The College of Business
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

Florida Atlantic University
Boca Raton, Florida
May 2012
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Copyright by Maria Petrescu 2012
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VIRAL ADVERTISING: CONCEPTUAL AND EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF
ANTECEDENTS, CONTEXT AND ITS INFLUENCE ON PURCHASE
INTENTIONS
by
MariaPetrescu
This dissertation was prepared under the direction of the candidate's dissertation advisor,
Dr. Pradeep K. Korgaonkar, Department of Marketing, and has been approved by the
members of her supervisorycommittee. It was submittedto the faculty of the College of
Business and was accepted in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the degree of
Doctorof Philosophy.
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Pradeep K. ~orgaonk- ,plLD. ~
Dissertation Chair
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Ann R. Root, Ph.D.
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Dean, Graduate College
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would especially like to thank my dissertation chair, Dr. Pradeep K. Korgaonkar,
for being an extraordinary mentor, for his patience, advice and kindness. I am so grateful
for having met him and for having benefited from such great support regarding my
doctoral endeavor and my career. Dr. Korgaonkar’s constant encouragements motivated
me to keep going and work harder.
I also appreciate all the help and advice I received from my committee members,
Dr. Tamara Mangleburg and Dr. Ann Root, and their dedication throughout these long
months of dissertation work.
I am also grateful for all the help and encouragement I received from Dr. Gopal
Iyer throughout the four years of the PhD program, and for the support and advice from
Dr. James Gray.
All my professors from the departments of Marketing and Management deserve
many thanks for sharing their experience and knowledge during our PhD classes. The
members of the administrative personnel also deserve my thanks for being nice and
helpful during these four years.
Last, but not least, I have many thanks for my PhD colleagues from Marketing
and Management, for their help, support, listening skills and for keeping me motivated
during many difficult moments.
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ABSTRACT

Author: Maria Petrescu
Title: Viral Advertising: Conceptual and Empirical Examination of
Antecedents, Context and Its Influence on Purchase Intentions
Institution: Florida Atlantic University
Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Pradeep K. Korgaonkar
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
Year: 2012

The purpose of this paper is to focus on viral advertising and study the conditions
under which ads become viral, how they are intentionally transmitted by consumers to
their social network and their relationship with classical advertising variables, such as
attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand and purchase intention of the consumer.
We first analyze studies focusing on different aspects of the viral communication,
“electronic word-of-mouth”, “word-of-mouse”, “viral marketing” and “buzz” in order to
clarify the concept of viral advertising.
After clarifying the viral advertising concept, the project analyzes the viral
process and its main antecedents and influencers, by taking into consideration emotional
and ad appeals theories. The results show that ad appeals influence attitude toward the ad
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and viral intentions, with humor being the most significant appeal in the context of viral
advertising.
The study also focuses on the social aspects of advertising and consumption,
including influential differences related to the source of the message, social influencers
analyzed in the socialization literature, such as family and peers, the tie strength element
from the social network theory and consumer market maven traits. The findings show the
significance of family communication and market maven characteristics in relation to
consumers’ viral intentions.
We then integrate our key variable, viral intentions, in a classical advertising
framework based on attitudes theory and their influence on behavioral intentions. The
results confirm previously studied relationships between attitude toward the ad, attitude
toward the brand and purchase intentions. The findings bring into attention two key new
relationships: the significant effect of attitude toward the brand on viral intentions, and
the positive relationship between viral intentions and purchase intentions, a very
important relationship for marketing research and practice.
Overall, this study clarifies the viral advertising concept, analyzes its key
antecedents, and studies the relationship between attitudes and behavioral intentions in a
viral advertising context. The paper also establishes a key positive relationship between
viral intentions and purchase intentions regarding the advertised product.
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DEDICATION

I dedicate this manuscript to my husband Viorel, for being there for me and
encouraging me during difficult moments; to my parents, Rodica and Ioan, and my
grandmother Ileana, for encouraging me to study; and last, but not least, to all the
children around the world who do not have access to education.
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VIRAL ADVERTISING: CONCEPTUAL AND EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF
ANTECEDENTS, CONTEXT AND ITS INFLUENCE ON PURCHASE
INTENTIONS

LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. xi
LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xii
CHAPTER 1 ....................................................................................................................... 1
INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1
CHAPTER 2 ....................................................................................................................... 8
REVIEW OF VIRAL CONCEPTS .................................................................................... 8
2.1 Word-of-mouth (WOM) .......................................................................................... 10
2.2 Viral marketing ....................................................................................................... 12
2.3 Buzz marketing ....................................................................................................... 15
2.4 Word of mouse or eWOM....................................................................................... 16
2.5 Viral advertising ...................................................................................................... 18
CHAPTER 3 ..................................................................................................................... 22
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW ................................. 22
3.1 Conceptual framework ............................................................................................ 23
3.2 Ad appeals ............................................................................................................... 27
3.2.1 Humor ............................................................................................................... 30
3.2.2 Sexual appeal .................................................................................................... 34
3.2.3 Informative ....................................................................................................... 38
3.3 Ad source ................................................................................................................ 41
3.4 Psychosocial and socialization factors .................................................................... 44
3.4.1 Family ............................................................................................................... 48
3.4.2 Peers ................................................................................................................. 51
3.4.3. Tie strength ...................................................................................................... 54
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3.4.4 Maven characteristics ....................................................................................... 57
3.5 Demographics ......................................................................................................... 61
3.6 Attitudes and intentions........................................................................................... 66
3.6.1 Attitude toward the ad and attitude toward the brand ...................................... 66
3.6.2 Viral intentions and purchase intentions .......................................................... 71
CHAPTER 4 ..................................................................................................................... 77
METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................... 77
4.1 Variables and operationalization ............................................................................. 77
4.1.2 Ad appeals pre-test measures ........................................................................... 79
4.1.3 Independent variables ....................................................................................... 80
4.1.4 Dependent variables ......................................................................................... 81
4.2 Sample and study structure ..................................................................................... 83
4.3 Pre-test analysis ....................................................................................................... 85
4.4 Final survey ............................................................................................................. 88
4.4.1 Survey ............................................................................................................... 88
4.4.2 Sample .............................................................................................................. 89
CHAPTER 5 ..................................................................................................................... 94
DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS............................................................................... 94
5.1 Scale assessment ..................................................................................................... 94
5.2 Ad appeal and ad source ......................................................................................... 98
5.3 Social influences on viral intentions ..................................................................... 113
5.4 Viral intentions and purchase intentions ............................................................... 116
CHAPTER 6 ................................................................................................................... 124
DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................. 124
6.1 Ad characteristics and viral intentions .................................................................. 127
6.2 Social factors and viral intentions ......................................................................... 130
6.3 Viral intentions and the advertising model ........................................................... 133
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CHAPTER 7 ................................................................................................................... 137
CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH ................................. 137
Appendix 1: Established scales used in model testing ................................................... 142
Appendix 2: Pre-test Questionnaire ................................................................................ 147
Appendix 3: Pre-test commercials .................................................................................. 151
Appendix 4: Final Questionnaire .................................................................................... 152
Appendix 5: Item correlations for Lisrel ........................................................................ 159
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 159

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