Value viral marketing occurs when internet users share quality experiences with others, without being prompted or given incentives to do so (Rohrbacher, 2000). In order for a viral message to be considered value viral, the enthusiasm of the sender must be transferred to the receiver.
Value viral is a particularly effective form of viral marketing, as consumers are more inclined to share information when they consider the product to be of value. High-value tips, resources that help consumers make decisions, and quality information are more likely to be forwarded (Schema, 2004).
Marketers cannot purposely create this type of campaign for a product, service or content. The product alone must be good enough to create 'chatter'. To encourage value viral marketing, companies must tailor the product or marketing message to the target audience, be relevant and appeal to the customer's perception of value.
Contents |
To determine the value of a product, its extrinsic and intrinsic value must be considered. Extrinsic value refers to the actual attractiveness of the product, service or content, while the intrinsic value of the item refers to the personal motivation to use the item or participate in an activity (Clow and Baack, 2004). The Exploding Dog website (www.explodingdog.com) will be used to explain this further.
Exploding Dog is a small website which presents unique drawings by Sam Brown. Users must make individual decisions about the extrinsic and intrinsic value of the product before choosing whether to share this site with others. For example, a user may like the colour and style of the drawings. He or she may also like that the drawings are unique or inspiring. In terms of intrinsic value, the user may feel that sharing their discovery will make them feel unique or fashionable, or be perceived as individual.
The greater the individual’s perceived extrinsic and intrinsic value, the more likely the person is to pass along the message. However, this doesn’t take into account the costs associated with forwarding the message. Costs may include the time needed to send the message, as well as the use of bandwith, if a picture needs to be forwarded.
Unlike some types of viral marketing, value viral does not try specifically to use viral techniques. Unlike experience and vile viral marketing, value viral marketing is spread because of the value of the product rather than the humour, interestingness or controversy of the message. Unlike vital viral, it doesn’t force users to spread the word about a product before it becomes useful and, as no incentives are given to people who spread the message, it is unlike incentive and guile viral marketing (Rohrbacher, 2000).
Due to these factors, value viral marketing has fewer ethical concerns compared to other types of viral marketing. This form of viral does not provide incentives for people to give endorsements nor require products to be overtly controversial in order to create 'chatter'. These factors lessen the chance that this type of viral could be considered unethical.
Skype (www.skype.com) is a program which uses VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) to offer inexpensive calls to telephone users, and free international telephone calls between Skype users. This product may have an especially high extrinsic value to some users. People who tell others about this application would be conducting value viral marketing.
Brenton Doyle 20:04, 27 Oct 2005 (EST)
Back to Viral Marketing
