۱- Introduction

۲- E-mail viral marketing: research objective

۳- Hypotheses formulation

۴- Data collection

۵- Data analysis and results

۶- Conclusion

۷- Managerial implications

۸- Limitations and further scope of the study

References

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify factors influencing the opening and forwarding of commercial e-mails received directly from companies to further promote products via sharing by consumers to create viral infection.
Design/methodology/approach – The study is descriptive in nature and carried out in the country, India. A structural equation modeling technique was used to test the hypothesized relationships among the constructs pertaining to opening and forwarding of commercial e-mails.
Findings – The results indicate that mail opening intentions of the recipients are influenced by the perceived value of e-mail content and their positive relation with the sender, increasing the probability of further forwarding. However, relationships among consumers have a significant effect on intentions to forward the commercial e-mails. E-mails that arouse positive emotions in the minds of the receivers are forwarded. The study significantly contributes to literature with the findings that not only positive emotions additionally content leads to high arousal through positive emotions leading to viral infection.
Practical implications – The study has implications for marketers who are in the business of promoting their products through e-mails, need to redesign the message content to engender positivity and generate viral infection, which is the ultimate goal of viral marketing.
Originality/value – This study explains factors behind the creation of “viral infection” specifically with regard to commercial e-mails targeted to individuals with high networking potential.

Introduction

The rapid proliferation of internet and communication technology has brought a major transition not only in the behavior of individuals, but also in the behavior of organizations (Redwood et al., 2017; Miquel-Romero and Adame-Sanchez, 2013). There had been a time when traditional media was used by the marketers for the publicity of products, but now the scenario has totally changed, cyberspace has facilitated the adoption of innovative digital technologies for promotion of products or services. Viral marketing, an internet-based marketing technique, encourages consumers to pass along a marketing message (e.g. company developed products and services or audio video or written information) via electronic platforms such as blog, e-mail, forum, virtual opinion platform and social networking site (Kotler et al., 2009; Hennig-Thurau et al., 2004). It is a new concept of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) marketing that emerged in the twenty-first century with the introduction of internet (Shanthi and Jeeva, 2014). Montgomery (2001) argued that the concept of viral marketing is not new as it has been described in the marketing literature for more than 30 years with terms such as “word-of-mouth” or “diffusion of innovation.” Ferguson (2008) opined that “the difference between viral marketing and word-ofmouth (WOM) is one of the cause and effect.