Going Viral - The Role of Brand-Incongruent Communication, Sender and Brand Connection in the spreading of communication on Social Media

Abstract: Social media is increasingly used for marketing activities and marketers are counting on consumers to spread their communication online. However, research in terms of what makes a campaign a viral success is limited. Through looking at three different dimensions: brand-schema incongruity of the message, the sender of the message, and the consumers' connection to the brand or the category, this thesis aims at investigating what makes communication spread in social media. Through an online survey with users of social network sites (SNSs) it is identified that the level of incongruity has an impact on sharing and showing the advertisement. In addition, a survey with opinion leaders within social media and marketing communication shows that these experts are also more willing to spread incongruent communication than congruent. Furthermore, this study identifies that SNS users are more inclined to comment on an ad posted by a friend compared to a brand, but not to share, like or show it to a larger extent. Lastly, it is found that a connection to the brand and the category affect the spreading intentions. The findings suggest that not only the message but also targeting is important for the communication of a brand to go viral.