Empirical Analysis of Factors Contributing to the Viral Spread of Message on Social Networking Sites

Abstract

The surge in the internet users across the world has fueled the development of social networking sites. These sites are present across all platforms and they are being made use of by marketers for advertising and connecting with the consumers. The study considers viral marketing as a tool for communicating messages over social media by marketers for its brand and/or product in an exponentially growing way by consumers voluntarily. Despite literature available on viral marketing, the factors contributing to the same are still elusive. The paper identifies the factors contributing to the viral spread of messages on social networking sites. The factors identified were message content, diffusion amongst peers, source credibility and viral spread.