Social Media Influence: Metrics Matter

It is imperative for companies to engage in social media marketing as consumers are often dependent on online information and electronic word-of-mouth. Past literature claims that consumers evaluate the influence of communications differently on social media than they would in a traditional environment because of the nature of the internet. This study aims to analyze user’s perceptions of social media marketing influence and determines if user’s perception of influence changes based on the number of social media metrics (likes, comments, and shares) that accompany a Facebook post. The study also investigates if perceptions of influence vary depending on a user’s level of involvement in the situation. A 2x2 factorial design is utilized to manipulate both level of involvement and amount of likes, comments, and shares that accompany a Facebook post. The results contend that a high number of likes, comments, and shares on Facebook leads to increased perceptions of source credibility and information usefulness. In particular, the results prove that a high number of likes, comments, and shares on Facebook leads to increased purchase intention in a low-involvement situation. These results are essential to marketers as they prove the importance of curating engaging content on company’s Facebook pages in order to generate high amounts of likes, comments, and shares. Increasing the amount of likes, comments, and shares on Facebook will make the post more influential to users

Slogans as Persuasive Accelerants of Electronic Word-of-Mouth Communication: A Preliminary Conceptual Model

Brands have been conceptualized as being made up of three different components: name, logo and slogan (Keller 1993, Dass, Kumar, Kohli, & Thomas, 2014). Slogans are short, memorable phrases that are often used to sign off on advertisements. They characterize a large proportion of brand advertising and are designed to attract consumer attention, crystallize brand positioning, increase advertising memorability, and improve brand affinity (Keller, 1993). Slogans have been part of our world for millennia, and a staple in the advertising world since its inception. Less complex messages – i.e., slogans – have been associated with improved advertising effectiveness (Lowrey 1998). Research into electronic word of mouth has grown rapidly. One reason is that online WOM elasticity has been found to be 2x larger than advertising’s (Hewett et. al, 2016). One recent advancement in creating and testing models of the eWOM process examined the relationship between several source and message characteristics on amplification and engagement Gourinovitch et. al (2019). The current paper will build upon this source-and-message model (see Figure 1). Slogans have rhetorical qualities that aid in gaining acceptance and dampening critique of the persuasive content (McQuarrie and Mick 1999). In some cases, their simple rhetorical nature may serve more as social expression of unified purpose than as communication to an intended audience. Slogans seem to be interpreted differently than textual information (Holbrook and Moore 1981; Holbrook 1982) and give the illusion of logical strength. We propose that because good slogans have persuasive strength and emotional elements, they can act as “accelerants” of eWOM. In social media, slogans most often appear in the form of hashtags, defined here as a word or phrase preceded by the symbol # that classifies or categorizes the accompanying text (such as a tweet). Not all hashtags include slogans, but slogans often do appear as hashtags in social media - for example: e.g., #Yeswecan, #Justdoit, #MAGA. Current models of word-of-mouth (WOM) persuasion and factors help explain the spread of electronic WOM (eWOM). However, little prior research has considered how rhetorical devices such as slogans may accelerate social media message acceptance and retransmission. The proposed model builds on prior theoretical work in source and message characteristics and their influence on eWOM in social media. The model predicts that message acceptance and retransmission is accelerated by high quality slogans – which often take the form of hashtags in social media – because they serve as a persuasive rhetorical device similar to enthymeme. We propose that how consumers perceive the quality of the slogan will determine if eWOM spreads slowly or quickly - a moderating effect. Our proposed model is shown in Figure 2. Future research will include a test of the full model using Twitter data. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Theo Lynn is Professor of Digital Business at Dublin City University Business School. Professor Lynn specializes in the role of digital technologies in transforming business processes. Pierangelo Rosati is an Assistant Professor in Business Analytics at Dublin City University Business School and a Co-Deputy Director of the Irish Institute of Digital Business (IIDB). Charles Wood is Professor of Marketing at the University of Tulsa

Spreading the virus : emotional tone of viral advertising and its effect on forwarding intentions and attitudes

iral advertising has attracted advertisers in recent years, yet little is known about how exactly it works from an information processing perspective. This study extends knowledge by exploring how the emotional tone (pleasant, unpleasant, coactive) of viral video ads affects attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand, and forwarding intentions. Results indicate that pleasant emotional tone elicits the strongest attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand, and intention to forward. The effects were weaker for coactive tone and weakest for negative emotional tone. These results challenge the common approach of shocking or scaring online users to motivate them to forward a viral video

The Word of Mouth Communication of Cake Products Through Online Media: Application of the Elaboration Likelihood Model

The shift from offline to online in information search mandates marketers to think about how to make online reviews become persuasive, including for cake products. The purpose of this study is to explain the influence of argument quality, source credibility, and source attractiveness on persuasive e-WOM message and its impact on the e-WOM utilization and intention to purchase cake products at the nearest outlet. Data is obtained from 105 cake lover respondents, in which afterwards is analyzed utilizing the Partial Least Square method. The results show that argument quality and source attractiveness have a positive influence on persuasive e-WOM message, while the source credibility had no significant influence on persuasive e-WOM message. Furthermore, persuasive e-WOM message positively affects e-WOM utilization and the intention of buying cake products at nearby stores. The results of this study prove that argument quality is a central cue in the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) and source attractiveness is a peripheral cue in the ELM which can change the behavior of online review readers on Instagram. Keywords: Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), argument quality, source credibility, source attractiveness, persuasive message, intention to bu

Persuasiveness of eWOM communications: Literature review and suggestions for future research

YesElectronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) plays an important part in consumer purchase decision. The way consumers perceive the persuasiveness of eWOM message can affect their attitude, and purchase intention, and hence sales. Thus, the topic of persuasiveness of eWOM communications has received much attention from scholars. The objective of this paper is to provide a brief review of the existing literature related to the effectiveness of eWOM communications and offer an overview of the determinants of eWOM persuasiveness. This paper contributes to the existing eWOM literature by reviewing the existing studies on eWOM communications, identifying gaps in the current research and providing directions for future research

The Viral Concept: the Winning Ticket of the Romanian Online Advertising Industry

The connection between the steady development of the Internet in Romania in the last five years, as channel of transmitting the marketing message, and the viral concept, as method of transmitting the message, may become the winning ticket for the Romanian online advertising market. Thus, in the current socio-economic context, any company who wishes to be successful in the virtual space cannot ignore the viral marketing techniques for several reasons. Firstly, we are talking about the profile of Internet users who tend to constitute a new social group. Secondly, we are talking about the thirst for information. And, last but not least, we are talking about the appetite for online chatting, statistics showing that 62% of the Roma-nian Internet users consider it a very "savory" information channel. This article tries to explain, in brief, what viral marketing is, which are its peculiarities, advantages, risks, as well as the limitations of its use, and which the strategies of a viral marketing campaign are. We will illustrate by giving successful examples from the Romanian online market.viral marketing, Internet, promotion, campaign.

THE FORMS OF UNCONVENTIONAL ADVERTISING – A THEORETICAL APPROACH

The large number of advertisements that the consumers are bombarded with every day has made them virtually immune to commercial messages. This is why advertisers are trying to find new, alternative ways to reach the customers, which are comprised by economic literature in the concept of unconventional advertising. Based on a thorough documentary research, this study identifies the existing forms of unconventional advertising by presenting them in the order of their frequency of use and it tries to group the ones with similar characteristics into somewhat larger categories. A better understanding and knowledge of these new forms of advertising can provide marketing and advertising specialists with new strategies to convey the brand message that can grab the attention of any prospect customer.advertising; unconventional advertising; unconventional media; ambient advertising; stealth marketing

Which reviews carry the most weight? The influence of message and source factors in online word-of-mouth messages

Online reviews are one example of electronic word of mouth messaging (eWOM), which research has shown plays an important role in purchasing decisions for consumers. Yet most eWOM research has ignored the potential effect of specific message and source features within the messages themselves. This study used a narrative lens to explore how the presence of a similar and explicitly identified character influences perceived trustworthiness of the reviews, as well as overall attitudes and purchase intention toward products. A mixed design experiment was conducted to test effects of character presence, as well as types of appeal, positive and negative valence, and product involvement in online review messages. Character presence was found to increase perceived trustworthiness and brand attitudes, but only for low-involvement products. Rational appeals and negative valenced reviews were also seen as more trustworthy, yet these main effects were complicated by a three-way interaction that suggests the effects of message features in eWOM reviews are complex and require more research to explore their nuances

Interpersonal Model of Online Textual Persuasion

As with other forms of human communication, text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC) media, such as email, instant messaging, and online texting, are often used as a means to persuade others. However, unlike most other media, which feature structural bias in their support for either interpersonal or broadcast communication modes, text- based CMC supports both modes. As a result, CMC text messages frequently have ambiguous origins. We argue that individuals respond to this ambiguity by categorizing these messages based on characteristics that distinguish interpersonal messages from broadcast messages, and receivers tend to comply to a greater extent with those messages that they perceive as interpersonal. Based on these arguments, we present a fundamentally new online textual persuasion model. In empirically testing the model in an online experiment that we assessed with structural equation modeling, we found that it exhibited strong explanatory power and additional utility in augmenting existing online persuasion models. The results offer important theoretical contributions to human-computer interaction research generally and provide practical specific insights for improving persuasive communication via text-based CMC

Influencing electronic word-of-mouth communication : getting beyond the skepticism of social media

Amy Simons, Thesis Supervisor.This study addresses the uneasiness that public relations (PR) professionals are experiencing regarding word-of-month (WOM) communication and the growing phenomenon of electronic WOM. That uneasiness is based on the notion that companies and brands no longer control their message. Instead, consumers, who communicate with other consumers, have seized control. However, this study indicates that companies and brands can retain some control of the message if they properly engage their consumers. While eWOM communication is growing and evolving, this study finds that consumers remain skeptical about eWOM messages. They crave supporting information before deciding how to act or behave. This is where PR professionals come into play. If they can successfully engage their consumers and interact with them through avenues such as social media, they can be effective in influencing eWOM communication. The study finds that persuasive eWOM communication requires supporting evidence. It is the PR professional's responsibility to provide information that can influence the eWOM communication about their product. Several tactics outlined in this study can help PR professionals accomplish this objective.Amy Simons, Thesis Supervisor.Includes bibliographical references (pages 55-57)