Page 114 - C:\Users\hp\Documents\Flip PDF Professional\2020 research project final report\

marketing strategies require the target audience to focus and comprehend the

meaning of the advertisement and understand what product it is trying to sell, this

marketing bombards the audience with various facts and images of the product

and ingrains the name of the product, appealing to one’s familiarity with the

product, and allows the mere-exposure effect to take place when the consumer is

in the market. Also, the success of viral marketing is dependent on the consumers

as they are the key target to getting the product or advertisement to fame via

social network platforms and interactions with others. Such a simple and interesting

way to advertise a product is a truly interesting topic to indulge in research.

The point of this study is to find out the effects of viral marketing and figuring out

its impacts on the consumer and the firm which utilizes it. As mentioned before,

viral marketing could bring both positive and negative publicity to the object it is

trying to promote. Therefore, our research team aims to find out whether the net

gains from the publicity outweighs the losses. We are intrigued by this concept as

there are cases of failed viral marketing where such marketing schemes hindered

the total sales of a product and cases of obvious backlashes of viral marketing such

as false advertisement and social disruption, but firms consistently seek to publicize

themselves with viral marketing. So we hope this research shows if the firms have

been risking losses for a chance of a big reward, or if there are hidden benefits

that come from even negative attention from viral marketing.

This study is significant as the effects of viral marketing can be evaluated and can

act as a guideline with its results whether to use viral marketing at all. By looking

at both perspectives of the consumer and the producer, the research will bring a

comprehensive look at marketing schemes and its impact on a societal level.

Understanding our own strategies and the reaction of the market to it will be the

key of properly running a business.

113