Article 1: Akpinar, E. & Berger, J. (2017). Valuable Virality.
Virality has become important in digital marketing:
Brands focuses more and more on earned media (when consumers share advertising content
on their own channels).
Here, the consumers themselves are the communication channel.
As a result, brands are designing ads that are shareable and contagious
Surprising, funny, or entertaining content is more likely to be passed on.
RQ: “What leads an ‘viral’ online ad both to be shared and to generate value for the company that
created it (the ad)?”
Word of mouth is when consumers share their views, preferences and experiences about products.
This can boost product adoption and sales and is cheaper than traditional advertising. However,
word-of-mouth marketing can only be effective if it increases brand-related outcomes (e.g., brand
evaluation and purchase). So, for a viral video to be effective:
1. Consumers have to talk about the brand or share brand-related content.
2. Campaigns need to create value for the brands being advertised.
Advertising appeals (drivers of valuable virality):
Different types of advertising appeals may have different effects on (1) shares and (2) brand
evaluation and purchase.
Emotional appeals are designed to appeal to emotions by using mood, music, and other
emotion-eliciting strategies.
o More likely to be shared than informational appeals.
Informational appeals are designed to appeal to cognition by using objective information
describing a brand’s attributes or benefits
o Boost brand-related outcomes (i.e., brand evaluation and purchase intent).
o Consumers should evaluate informative appeals’ persuasion efforts as fairer and less
deceptive.
o Provides more information about the product or brand.
Ad types:
Emotional non-integral: the advertised product is not very relevant to the narrative. Here,
consumers likely think that the brand is just using emotional tactics to convince them and
may infer manipulative intent.
Emotional integral: the advertised product is very relevant to the narrative. Here, the
emotion-eliciting strategies seem less superfluous, and it seems less manipulative, which
should make a consumer’s inferences about persuasion attempts more favorable. Moreover,
emotional integral appeals should boost brand knowledge, because consumers learn more
about the product/brand when it is related to the narrative (just as in informative ads).
o Emotional integral ads increase brand knowledge by communicating product
features; and by conveying brand image or personality. This should indirectly boost
brand evaluation and purchase.
Informative: provide more information about the product or brand and thereby consumers
feel like they have a better sense of the product- and brand-relevant features. Such incrased
knowledge should positively influence purchase intent as well as brand evaluation.
Examples ad types:
Emotional non-integral ad (“human slingshot”): used a situation in which the product, soap,
was not very relevant to the narrative. In this ad, people are riding a raft down an enormous
, slide next to a lake. The raft is hooked to a bungee cord and catapults them through the air
into the water.
Emotional integral ad (“foam city”): showed how a downtown area turns into a giant bubble
bath with whole streets filled with foam. The product (soap_ was clearly relevant and
integral to the narrative (i.e., soap makes foam).
Informative ad (“pure and natural”): a woman and child use the soap, and product benefits
are explicitly stated. The ad noted that the soap is gentle on the skin, moisturizes and
refreshes, and is environmentally friendly.
Conclusion and key results:
Emotional ads (both) boosted the likelihood to share content.
Informative ads and emotional integral ads increased positive brand evaluations after
watching ads.
Informative ads and emotional integral ads increased purchase intention.
So, adding positive inferences and increasing brand knowledge within emotional ad boosts the brand
evaluation, purchase intent and likelihood to share!
“Making the brand an integral part of the content in emotional appeals will improve brand-related
performance.”
Social media implications:
Make the product integral to the narrative.
Use emotional appeals that maintain the brand as an integral part of the message (for
example by using music from an artist) since emotional ads are shared more than informative
ads.
, Article 2: Anderson, E. T., & Simester, D. I. (2014). Reviews without a purchase: Low ratings, loyal
customers, and deception.
Context:
Internet retailers have been allowing for product reviews to be posted.
Some reviews may concern fraudulent or deceptive (misleiding) ones, which may result in
negative firm outcomes.
The negative impact of low rating is greater than the positive impact of high ratings.
RQ: “To what extent are product reviews on a large private label retailer’s website submitted by
costumers with no record of ever purchasing the product they are reviewing?”
Results:
Product reviews submitted by customers with no record of ever purchasing the product are:
o Significantly more negative than other reviews.
o Less likely to contain expressions describing the fit or feel of the items.
o More likely to contain linguistic cues associated with deception.
o Tend to contain significantly more words (40% higher), more mentions of the
reviewer’s family, and more frequent use of repeated exclamation points.
The Low Ratings Effect: alternative explanations for why researchers observe lower ratings
reviews without a confirmed transaction.
o Selection problem: the items or reviewers in the sample may be systematically
different.
o Misclassification: a customer may have purchased the product that one reviewed,
but the review was misclassified as not having a confirmed purchase.
o Reviewers may be venting general dissatisfaction with the company through a
product review.
Customers who write reviews without confirmed transactions:
o Tend to be younger
o Have more children in their households
o Are less likely to be married
o Are less likely to have graduate degrees
o Have less expensive homes and lower household incomes
o Tend to be higher-volume purchasers, buying 30% more items even though they
have been customers for a slightly shorter period
o The average price they pay is identical to the other reviewers, although this price is
more likely to be a discounted price
o Write more than twice as many reviews
Why would a customer write a review without purchasing?
o Upset customer: they may have experienced a service failure with the company.
o Self-appointed (egocentric) brand managers: the reverse of the “upset customers”
explanation. It is possible that these customers are acting as “self-appointed brand
managers”. Customers are providing feedback to the retailer.
o Social status: reviewers are simply writing reviews to enhance their social status
which increases by helping others and therefore provide advice to other customers.
Implications:
Only allowing customers who have purchased the product to write a review.
Virality has become important in digital marketing:
Brands focuses more and more on earned media (when consumers share advertising content
on their own channels).
Here, the consumers themselves are the communication channel.
As a result, brands are designing ads that are shareable and contagious
Surprising, funny, or entertaining content is more likely to be passed on.
RQ: “What leads an ‘viral’ online ad both to be shared and to generate value for the company that
created it (the ad)?”
Word of mouth is when consumers share their views, preferences and experiences about products.
This can boost product adoption and sales and is cheaper than traditional advertising. However,
word-of-mouth marketing can only be effective if it increases brand-related outcomes (e.g., brand
evaluation and purchase). So, for a viral video to be effective:
1. Consumers have to talk about the brand or share brand-related content.
2. Campaigns need to create value for the brands being advertised.
Advertising appeals (drivers of valuable virality):
Different types of advertising appeals may have different effects on (1) shares and (2) brand
evaluation and purchase.
Emotional appeals are designed to appeal to emotions by using mood, music, and other
emotion-eliciting strategies.
o More likely to be shared than informational appeals.
Informational appeals are designed to appeal to cognition by using objective information
describing a brand’s attributes or benefits
o Boost brand-related outcomes (i.e., brand evaluation and purchase intent).
o Consumers should evaluate informative appeals’ persuasion efforts as fairer and less
deceptive.
o Provides more information about the product or brand.
Ad types:
Emotional non-integral: the advertised product is not very relevant to the narrative. Here,
consumers likely think that the brand is just using emotional tactics to convince them and
may infer manipulative intent.
Emotional integral: the advertised product is very relevant to the narrative. Here, the
emotion-eliciting strategies seem less superfluous, and it seems less manipulative, which
should make a consumer’s inferences about persuasion attempts more favorable. Moreover,
emotional integral appeals should boost brand knowledge, because consumers learn more
about the product/brand when it is related to the narrative (just as in informative ads).
o Emotional integral ads increase brand knowledge by communicating product
features; and by conveying brand image or personality. This should indirectly boost
brand evaluation and purchase.
Informative: provide more information about the product or brand and thereby consumers
feel like they have a better sense of the product- and brand-relevant features. Such incrased
knowledge should positively influence purchase intent as well as brand evaluation.
Examples ad types:
Emotional non-integral ad (“human slingshot”): used a situation in which the product, soap,
was not very relevant to the narrative. In this ad, people are riding a raft down an enormous
, slide next to a lake. The raft is hooked to a bungee cord and catapults them through the air
into the water.
Emotional integral ad (“foam city”): showed how a downtown area turns into a giant bubble
bath with whole streets filled with foam. The product (soap_ was clearly relevant and
integral to the narrative (i.e., soap makes foam).
Informative ad (“pure and natural”): a woman and child use the soap, and product benefits
are explicitly stated. The ad noted that the soap is gentle on the skin, moisturizes and
refreshes, and is environmentally friendly.
Conclusion and key results:
Emotional ads (both) boosted the likelihood to share content.
Informative ads and emotional integral ads increased positive brand evaluations after
watching ads.
Informative ads and emotional integral ads increased purchase intention.
So, adding positive inferences and increasing brand knowledge within emotional ad boosts the brand
evaluation, purchase intent and likelihood to share!
“Making the brand an integral part of the content in emotional appeals will improve brand-related
performance.”
Social media implications:
Make the product integral to the narrative.
Use emotional appeals that maintain the brand as an integral part of the message (for
example by using music from an artist) since emotional ads are shared more than informative
ads.
, Article 2: Anderson, E. T., & Simester, D. I. (2014). Reviews without a purchase: Low ratings, loyal
customers, and deception.
Context:
Internet retailers have been allowing for product reviews to be posted.
Some reviews may concern fraudulent or deceptive (misleiding) ones, which may result in
negative firm outcomes.
The negative impact of low rating is greater than the positive impact of high ratings.
RQ: “To what extent are product reviews on a large private label retailer’s website submitted by
costumers with no record of ever purchasing the product they are reviewing?”
Results:
Product reviews submitted by customers with no record of ever purchasing the product are:
o Significantly more negative than other reviews.
o Less likely to contain expressions describing the fit or feel of the items.
o More likely to contain linguistic cues associated with deception.
o Tend to contain significantly more words (40% higher), more mentions of the
reviewer’s family, and more frequent use of repeated exclamation points.
The Low Ratings Effect: alternative explanations for why researchers observe lower ratings
reviews without a confirmed transaction.
o Selection problem: the items or reviewers in the sample may be systematically
different.
o Misclassification: a customer may have purchased the product that one reviewed,
but the review was misclassified as not having a confirmed purchase.
o Reviewers may be venting general dissatisfaction with the company through a
product review.
Customers who write reviews without confirmed transactions:
o Tend to be younger
o Have more children in their households
o Are less likely to be married
o Are less likely to have graduate degrees
o Have less expensive homes and lower household incomes
o Tend to be higher-volume purchasers, buying 30% more items even though they
have been customers for a slightly shorter period
o The average price they pay is identical to the other reviewers, although this price is
more likely to be a discounted price
o Write more than twice as many reviews
Why would a customer write a review without purchasing?
o Upset customer: they may have experienced a service failure with the company.
o Self-appointed (egocentric) brand managers: the reverse of the “upset customers”
explanation. It is possible that these customers are acting as “self-appointed brand
managers”. Customers are providing feedback to the retailer.
o Social status: reviewers are simply writing reviews to enhance their social status
which increases by helping others and therefore provide advice to other customers.
Implications:
Only allowing customers who have purchased the product to write a review.
