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The effects of the social structure of digital networks on viral marketing performance Bampo, Mauro, Ewing, Michael T., Mather, Dineli R., Stewart, David and Wallace, Mark 2008, The effects of the social structure of digital networks on viral marketing performance, Information systems research, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 273-290. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title The effects of the social structure of digital networks on viral marketing performance Author(s) Bampo, Mauro Ewing, Michael T. Mather, Dineli R. Stewart, David Wallace, Mark Journal name Information systems research Volume number 19 Issue number 3 Start page 273 End page 290 Publisher Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences Place of publication East Lansing, Mich. Publication date 2008-09 ISSN 1047-7047 1526-5536 Keyword(s) digital communication social structure of digital networks viral marketing Summary Viral marketing is a form of peer-to-peer communication in which individuals are encouraged to pass on promotional messages within their social networks. Conventional wisdom holds that the viral marketing process is both random and unmanageable. In this paper, we deconstruct the process and investigate the formation of the activated digital network as distinct from the underlying social network. We then consider the impact of the social structure of digital networks (random, scale free, and small world) and of the transmission behavior of individuals on campaign performance. Specifically, we identify alternative social network models to understand the mediating effects of the social structures of these models on viral marketing campaigns. Next, we analyse an actual viral marketing campaign and use the empirical data to develop and validate a computer simulation model for viral marketing. Finally, we conduct a number of simulation experiments to predict the spread of a viral message within different types of social network structures under different assumptions and scenarios. Our findings confirm that the social structure of digital networks play a critical role in the spread of a viral message. Managers seeking to optimize campaign performance should give consideration to these findings before designing and implementing viral marketing campaigns. We also demonstrate how a simulation model is used to quantify the impact of campaign management inputs and how these learnings can support managerial decision making. Language eng Field of Research 010206 Operations Research Socio Economic Objective 950299 Communication not elsewhere classified HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal HERDC collection year 2008 Copyright notice ©2008, INFORMS Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30017617 Document type: Journal Article Collection: School of Engineering and Information Technology Related Links Link Description Connect to published version (restricted access) Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Fri, 14 Aug 2009, 13:55:16 EST Mon, 21 Dec 2009, 14:21:39 EST Mon, 21 Dec 2009, 14:24:11 EST Wed, 01 Feb 2012, 16:16:38 EST Thu, 02 Feb 2012, 13:06:41 EST Wed, 04 Sep 2013, 11:45:25 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 35 times in TR Web of Science Cited 72 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 1123 Abstract Views, 1981 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Fri, 14 Aug 2009, 13:55:16 EST

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