Dissertation-Viral Marketing

I would like to thank my teacher Mr. Chris Moore for his guidance and encouragement he has given me in writing this report.

It is interesting how social media today is influencing the marketing role of many companies and how it’s playing a big role in their success. The more the company advertises on social media, the

I would like to thank the following peer reviewers for their excellent input on my essay.

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I would like to thank the researchers who provided the information to help make this research possible and searchable. At Capella University, I owe so much to the mentors, the instructors and all of my wonderful cohorts that helped give feedback and offered personal assistance

©2011 IAM IAM Level 2 Certificate in Principles of Business and Administration • Qualification handbook • 7

I would like to send my appreciation and gratitude to David La Rooy, who has supported my journey in making this dissertation possible to do. I would like to give thanks to all the students who have participated in this dissertation.

Social media is not new. Facebook has been around since 2004, YouTube since 2005, and Twitter in 2006. What is new is how social media sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are affecting the way businesses market their products and services. Never before in our history have consumers been able to communicate so effortlessly with each other and with the businesses they frequent. Never before have businesses been able to interact and react to customer feedback so quickly and efficiently. However, just because businesses have the ability to use social media for their marketing and advertising efforts, does not necessarily mean they should. This paper intends to

This thesis dissertation is a milestone of my academic career. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Prof. Erick. C. Jones for his support for my MS thesis, for his immense knowledge, patience and motivation.

Social media has taken off like a rocket throughout the years. The annoying sound of a modem connecting has turned into a soundless transaction. The wait time to connect is instant, opening a global world of interactions for people. You can now connect with anyone, anywhere at anytime at least once a day. Social media defined by Goyal is “Any platform,which provides the facility of sharing ideas, exchanging information and sending messages over an electronic medium, is considered as social media.” (Goyal,222). This is to include online magazines, Facebook, Twitter, Newspapers,Email, Blogs, YouTube and many more. Advertisers have taken notice to these platforms, utilizing social media to promote their brands, develop trust with the consumer,save money and target audiences faster than ever before.

Social media is defined as a group of Internet-based applications which build on the platform of Web 2.0 and the contents of these applications can be modified by all users in a participatory and collaborative method (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). Social media creates a platform for companies to talk to their customers as a hybrid element of promotion mix. With the emergence of social media, the tools and strategies for companies to connect with customers have also changed (Mangold and Faulds, 2009). To adapt with the emergence of social media in the marketing, companies should have unique insights about these significances (Quan-Haase and Young, 2010). The significances of social media embody three main aspects which are technology, decision-making and purchase behaviors of customers.

Social media is presently one of the best opportunities that is available for a brand to connect with the prospective consumers. Social media can also be treated as a medium for the socialization. For the businesses, the social media is a marketing opportunity for transcending the connecting between the consumers and the companies. The influence of the social media is infiltrating various aspects of our lives(Arca, 2012). Social media is constantly rising and the impacts of the social networking is penetrating in almost all businesses Social media are often used for spreading the knowledge about the changing opinions of the people. Important marketing tactics are applied to these social networks for better outcomes. Businesses with a well-established and ethical social media platform have more chances to become successful in the competition of the social networks. This research report comprises of the detailed explanation for the advantages and the disadvantages associated with the social networks. A rigorous analysis for the subject has been done in the report.

The term ‘Viral Marketing’ describes the phenomenon by which a marketing technique that uses preexisting social networking services and induces websites to pass on marketing message to other users and sites that creates a potential exponential growth in brand awareness and to achieve marketing objectives. It is a marketing strategy that focuses on broadcasting brand image and awareness hence motivating a buyer to purchase a product even though it might be more costly than other products. Kaplan and Heinlein (2011) further define it as an ‘electronic word of mouth’ whereby a form of marketing message is related to the company brand or product which is conveyed in an exponential growing way, mainly by the use of social media and websites.

In addition, I would also acknowledge my school-mates for their help in the data collection process. They have devoted their precious time for the interviews voluntarily and their wholehearted support contributes to the success of this dissertation.

In making this project report a lot of people have contributed by giving us the required knowledge and time, we would like to thank all of them. It is because of their assistance and competence that we have reached this milestone.