The Social Exchange of Viral Ads

Sharing Motivations, Brand Relationships, and SNS Trust in Viral Advertising Processes

Dr. Jameson HayesAssistant Professor, Zimmerman Advertising Program

March 28, 2014

Impetus

188.5 M Ams. watched online

videos in Aug ‘13 (comScore)

22.7B online video ad views in August

2013(comScore)

Online video spending to double

by 2016(eMarketer)

Marketers with an Eye Toward Viral

Scope(Adap.TV)

Shift Towards Viral Advertising

Viral Advertising Research• Benefits of Viral Advertising (Southgate et al. 2010)• Creative Determinants (Eckler & Bolls 2011)• Web 2.0 Tools (Moran & Gossieaux 2010)

Knowledge Gaps• Sharing Motivations’ Impact on Viral Processes• Online video ad sharing• Viral Activity within SNSs• Brand Relationship Impact

Literature

Conceptual Background

Social Exchange Theory

Customer-brand Relationships

Information Exchange

• Molm (1997)• Lawler &Yoon (1996)

• Fournier (1998)• Hess & Story (2005)

• Nahapiet & Ghoshal (1998)

• Constant, Kiesler, & Sproul (1998)

Two Proposed Sharing Processes

Co-referral passing along the brand content endorsed by someone else to one’s social network (i.e.”Like” or retweet)

Referral act of referring the brand content to one’s social network (i.e. post/tweet)

Brand Relationship

Strength

OpinionGiving

Propensity

OpinionGiving

Propensity

SNSTrust

Likelihood ofReferral

Sharing Motivations

(ALT, TR, EB, & REL)

The Referral Decision Process

RQ1: Which?

H1 H2 RQ2

Opinion-Giving

Propensity

Brand Relationship

Strength

OpinionGiving

Propensity

SNSTrust

Likelihood ofCo-referral

Sharing Motivations

(ALT, TR, EB, & REL)

The Co-referral Decision Process

Opinion-Seeking

Propensity

H3 H4 RQ4RQ5

RQ3: Which?

Methodology

Purpose: Examine proposed processes

Design: 2 X 2 X 2 online experiment

Analyses: multiple regression

Sample: 409 U.S. Facebook users age 18-34 (42% M, 58% F)

Stimuli

Viral Video Ad Stimuli Facebook Referral Stimuli

Results – Referral Process

Process Hyp/RQ DescriptionRisk Level

Computers Candy

ReferralProcess

RQ1 Which SMs? LoR All SMs All SMs

H1 SMs X BRS LoR SupportedPartially Supported

(EB, REP, REL)

H2 SMs X TR LoR Not Supported Supported

RQ2 SMs X OGP LoR? No REL only

Results – Co-referral Process

Process Hyp/RQ DescriptionRisk Level

Computers Candy

Co-referralProcess

RQ4 Which SMs? LoCR ALT, EB, & REP All SMs

H3 SMs X BRS LoCRPartially Supported

(REP Only)Not Supported

H4 SMs X TR LoCRPartially Supported

(EB only)Not supported

RQ5 SMs X OGP LoCR No No

RQ6 SMs X OSP LoCR No No

General Discussion

The Ad Referral Process

• Reciprocal Altruism • Brand Relationship Enhances Sharing Motivation Impact• Brand Crucial When Risk is High• SNS Trust Crucial When Risk is Low

The Ad Co-referral Process

• Co-referral Largely Driven by Self-Interest• Brand Relationships Enhance Reputation w/ High Risk Ads• SNS Trust Ensures Expected Benefits w/ High Risk Ads• Low Risk Ads Shared for Relational Maintenance