Viral Marketing Communication: The Internet Word-of-Mouth

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Viral Marketing Communication – A study on consumer perception and response MBA Thesis ’2009 Consumer dependency Consumers unwilling to provide referrals unless there is some return (Helm, 2000) Lack of legal standards Emerging legal issues have to be taken into consideration (Kaikati & Kaikati, 2004) Lack of ethical standards Consumers may feel exploited, (Dobele et al, 2005) cheated, used Emerging ethical issues need to be (Kaikati & Kaikati, 2004) considered Consumer privacy invasion (Phelps et al, 2004) Table 3.2: Potential benefits and risks of viral marketing It is said that the existing literature on viral marketing can be categorized into four emerging research streams making both theoretical/conceptual and empirical contributions (Woerndl et al, 2008). They are outlined as below: 1) Viral marketing comparisons Investigate different marketing variables in light of other marketing techniques such as television advertising (Porter & Golan, 2006) 2) Consumer-to-consumer viral marketing Examine specific issues within consumer context, such as impact on customer value and loyalty (Gruen et al, 2006) 3) Studies of communication media Explore specific transmission modes such as e- mail (Phelps et al, 2004) and include communication field studies (Welker, 2002) 4) Viral marketing positioning Research concerned with identifying positioning characteristics of viral marketing and drawing conclusions (Dobele et al, 2005; Helm, 2000) Table 3.3: Emerging streams of existing literature on viral marketing Our paper falls into the second stream, consumer-to-consumer viral marketing, where we attempt to find out more about consumer receptivity and attitude towards this form of communication. Judging from the literature review we have conducted, it is not hard to realize that there has been limited past research regarding consumer perception and response towards VMC. This further justifies our motivation for venturing into this relatively unexplored marketing topic from a consumer point of view. Low Jiun Wee Xavier and Goh Yun Shuang Summer Page 26 of 93
Viral Marketing Communication – A study on consumer perception and response MBA Thesis ’2009 CHAPTER FOUR: METHODOLOGY 4.1 Research Methodology Marketing Research Marketing research is defined as the process of designing, gathering, analyzing and reporting information that may be utilized to solve a particular marketing problem. The American Marketing Association (AMA) has defined it as the function that links the consumer, customer and the public to the marketer through information. This information is used to Identify and define marketing opportunities and problems Generate, refine and evaluate marketing actions Monitor marketing performance Improve understanding of marketing as a process (Burns & Bush, 2000) The main objective of our research is to understand VMC as a marketing process from a consumer standpoint, allowing room for the consumer‟s “voice” to be heard. We will also make use of the research analysis to test our hypotheses as stated in Chapter 1. Qualitative, Quantitative and Pluralistic research There are three broad means of data collection in the research process, namely qualitative, quantitative and pluralistic. Their characteristics can be summarized in the table below (Burns and Bush, 2000). Qualitative Quantitative Pluralistic ‣ Involves collecting, analyzing and interpreting data by observing what people do and say ‣ Statements are in non-standardized form ‣ Uses observation technique or unstructured ‣ Involves use of structured questions where response options have been predetermined ‣ Usually large number of respondents ‣ Formalized procedure for gathering data ‣ Compilation of data follows orderly procedure, largely ‣ Combination of both qualitative and quantitative research methods ‣ Exploratory qualitative techniques help to form foundation for quantitative phase ‣ Alternatively, qualitative phase is applied after quantitative study to help researcher understand Low Jiun Wee Xavier and Goh Yun Shuang Summer Page 27 of 93
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Viral Marketing Communication: The Internet Word-of-Mouth

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