The exploration about the textual internet meme: a case study of KFC Crazy Thursday textual meme marketing activity in mainland China

Abstract: In the digital era, the way people communicate has been greatly changed by information and communication technologies, such as social media. Internet memes spread virally among the public through social media platforms and utilized by contemporary people to communicate in the virtual world. Marketers or managers notice the impacts of internet memes and regard them as an effective tool to promote consumer engagement, which leads the development of meme marketing. Scholars also notice the impacts of the communication functions of internet memes. Thereby, relative studies about meme marketing are conducted and developed. However, existing studies predominantly concentrate on internet memes that possess pronounced visual elements, such as images or videos. This suggests a scarcity of comprehensive theoretical frameworks and case studies that delve into the characteristics and functions of textual internet memes as well as well as the motivations driving consumers to engage in textual internet meme marketing. Therefore, this research aims to enrich the gaps of textual memes in the field of meme marketing and brand communication within the case of KFC’s textual meme marketing. In this case study, the characteristics, potential functions and hidden meanings of textual internet memes, and motivations of consumer engagement are explored. According to qualitative content analysis, four general features (i.e., amusement value, relevance, high iconicity and social interaction attribute) and three motivations of consumer engagement are identified (i.e., hedonistic need, cognition need and social interaction need).