The Effect of Viral Marketing Messages on Consumer Behavior

Web 2.0 proved to be a disruptive force for most business models. Consumers got a voice in an otherwise one way marketing communication. Research has established that social exchange of information affects consumer attitudes and purchase intentions. This paper exmines the effect of entertaining, informative and credible viral marketing messages on consumers message process involvement, attitude and purchase intention. Descriptive research design was used to conduct the study. Generation Y respondents (individuals born after 1980) were chosen for the study due to their affinity for Internet. Cronbach alpha, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the data. The results establish that viral marketing messages do not have direct influence on purchase intentions of consumers. Message process involvement and attitude towards the brand strongly mediate the relationship between the viral messages and purchase intentions.