A very small percentage of potentially viral advertisement messages actually go viral. The creativity of these
advertisement messages is considered crucial in making them viral. Through a review of literature, this study
develops a measure to assess the creativity of potentially viral advertisement messages that can help predict their
success. Using a controlled experiment on a sample of internet users, it pre-tests the measure of viral ad message
creativity and explores its role in predicting viral success. The study assesses and compares the creativity, sharing,
and liking of a sample of viral advertisements versus a sample of control advertisements. The results indicate the
significant positive effects of perceptual creativity on shares and likes, which in turn determine viral success.

Click here to download

w Amabile, T. M. (1982), “The Social Psychology of
Creativity: A Consensual Assessment Technique,”
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43(5),
997-1013.
w Amabile, T. M. (1998), “How to Hill Creativity,”
Harvard Business Review, 76(5), 76-87.
w Ang, Swee Hoon and Sharon Y.M. Low (2000),
“Exploring the Dimensions of Ad Creativity,”
Psychology & Marketing, 17 (October), 835-854.
w Ang, Swee Hoon, Yih Hwai Lee and Siew Meng
Leong (2007), “The Ad Creativity Cube: A
Conceptualization and Initial Validation,” Journal of
the Academy of Marketing Science, 35(2), 220-232.
w Till, Brian D. and Daniel W. Baack (2005), “Recall
and Persuasion: Does Creative Advertising Matter?,”
Journal of Advertising, 34(3), 47-57.
w Briggs, R. & Hollis, N. (1997), “Advertising on the
Web: Is There Response Before Click-through?,”
Journal of Advertising Research, 37(2), 33-35.
w Chiu, Hung-Chang, Yi-Ching Hsieh, Ya-Hui Kao, and
Monle Lee (2007), “The Determinants of Email
Receivers’ Disseminating Behaviors on the Internet,”
Journal of Advertising Research, 47(4), 524-534.
w Drèze, Xavier and Fred Zufryden (1998), “ Is Internet
Advertising Ready for Prime Time?,” Journal of
Advertising Research, 38(3), 7-18.
w Edelman, David, C. (2007), “From the Periphery to
the Core: As Online Strategy Becomes Overall
Strategy, Marketing Organizations and Agencies Will
Never Be the Same”, Journal of Advertising
Research, 47(2), 130-134.
w El-Murad, Jaafar and Douglas C. West (2004), “The
Definition and Measurement of Creativity: What Do
We Know?” Journal of Advertising Research, 44 (2),
188-201.
w Gaylord, Murray (1994), “How Account Management
Interacts with the Creative Function.” Paper
presented at an Advertising Research Foundation
Special Seminar.
w Greenberg, D. A. (2007), “The Secret Strategies
Behind Many Viral Videos” available at http://
www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/22/the-secretstrategies-
behind-many-viral-videos/ (last accessed
June, 6, 2008).
w Harrison-Walker, L. Jean (2001), “The Measurement
of Word-of-Mouth Communication and an
Investigation of Service Quality and Customer
Commitment as Potential Antecedents,” Journal of
Service Research, 4(1), 60-75.
w Higgins, Marilyn and James Morgan (2000), “The
Role of Creativity in Planning: The ‘Creative
Practitioner’,” Planning Practice and Research, 15
(1&2), 117-127.
w Higie, Robin A., and Murphy A. Sewall (1991),
“Using Recall and Brand Preference to Evaluate
Advertising Effectiveness,” Journal of Advertising
Research, 31 (April/May), 56–63.