Going Viral: An Analysis of YouTube Videos

Iris Mohr
St. John’s University, TCB

In this new era of marketing, ideas go viral, and spread like an infectious disease. Seeding strategies have
strong influences on the success of viral marketing campaigns. In this paper, both case and content
analysis were employed to examine the impact of influencers on viral campaigns. In doing so, this study
extends on the two step/multistep models of communication. The empirical results show that seeding to
well-connected people, celebrities, media vehicles, or anyone with a huge following through their greater
reach is the most successful approach because these attractive seeding players are more likely to
participate in viral marketing campaigns.

INTRODUCTION

A hot topic today is viral marketing, which describes the phenomenon by which consumers mutually
share and spread marketing-relevant information in the form of emails, YouTube videos, and social
media postings. The information is initially sent out deliberately by marketers to stimulate and capitalize
on word-of-mouth (WOM) behaviors (Van der Lans et al. 2010) and encourage users to pass it on to other
users, creating a potentially exponential growth in the message's visibility and effect. These
characteristics parallel the traits of infectious diseases (Watts and Peretti 2007).
To date, there is no marketing academic literature that incorporates the new social media influencer
and viral phenomenon into the communication model. The two-step flow model was first introduced in
1944 by Paul Lazarsfeld et al. in 1944, and hypothesizes that ideas flow from mass media to opinion
leaders and from them to the wider population. It was later elaborated by Elihu Katz and Lazarsfeld in
1955 (Katz and Lazarsfeld 1955). The extended Multistep Flow Model says that most people form their
opinions based on opinion leaders that influence the media. Opinion leaders are those initially exposed to
a specific media content, and those that interpret it are based on their own opinion. They then begin to
infiltrate these opinions through the general public who become "opinion followers.”
The current model assumes that "opinion leaders" gain their influence through more elite media as
opposed to mainstream mass media, social media influencers, and user generated content. However, with
the advent of social media, there is a new type of opinion leader. User generated content producers,
bloggers and other amateur journalists are creating news content, and people who have been made
subjects of news articles are responding online, posting supplementary information to provide comments,
context, and counterpoints. Increasingly, the public is turning to online sources for information and
consumption matters, such as bloggers, user reviews, and tweeters, reflecting the growing trust in
alternative media; and, to user generated content produced by the mass media for entertainment purposes.
Though social media is transforming the way organizations, consumers, and people in general
communicate and entertain, the academic literature reflects remarkably little effort to understand where

Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness vol. 8(3) 2014 43

this new type of opinion leader fits into the communication model. This is surprising given that the
phenomenal growth of texting, blogging, and networking, and how companies tap into Facebook, Twitter,
and blogging for customer communication. A Forrester Research study confirms that 13.4% of U.S.
adults online create 80% of the content that influences people, and 6.2% of these web users are
responsible for 80% of social media influence (Henneberry 2012). This last factor is of particular
importance because it is critical to viral marketing success. Given that social media influencers disperse
messages willingly, they are particularly attractive to marketers since they tend to more cost efficient than
traditional mass media advertising.
However, to score millions of viewers, and enjoy such results, four factors are critical (Hinz et al.
2011): (1) content that is easily memorable (Berger and Milkman 2011; Berger and Schwartz 2011;
Gladwell 2002; Porter and Golan 2006); (2) the structure of the underlying digital social network (Bampo
et al. 2008); (3) word of mouth pressure, described as the behavioral characteristics of those influenced
and willingness to share message (Arndt 1967); and (4) the seeding strategy, which determines the initial
set of targeted consumers (Bampo et al. 2008; Kalish, Mahajan, and Muller 1995; Libai, Muller, and
Peres 2005), media sources, and social media influencers chosen by the initiator at the start of the viral
campaign. The last factor is of particular importance because it suggests that the viral campaign is
entirely under control of the initiator for it to go viral.

METHODOLOGY

A two-part study was undertaken to understand how ideas go viral. Part 1 is a case study of Susan
Boyle that attempts to validate the four critical factors of viral campaigns (Hintz et al. 2011). Susan
Boyle, a contestant on Britain’s Got Talent, transformed into a global sensation, attracting millions of
YouTube viewers. Part 2 is a content analysis exploratory study that examines top viral YouTube videos
for the purpose of identifying key elements of successful viral campaigns, differences in variations in
levels of success, the relationship between source and popularity of video, and the role/impact of the
influencer in communication models.

Part 1: A Case Study of Susan Boyle

On April 11, 2009, Susan Boyle performed ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ from the musical Les Miserables on
Britain’s Got Talent in 2009, where both judges and audiences were blown away that the TV show
attracted 10.3 million viewers. In one weekend, Susan Boyle's popularity rose very fast, and her
performance on Britain’s Got Talent went viral. As of 10pm ET Sunday, Visible Measures (2009)
reported the following Susan Boyle statistics: (1) 650 video placements found associated with Susan
Boyle, including the original performance, interviews and fan responses; (2) 93.2 million views, meaning
that views nearly doubled during the weekend; and (3) 15.6 million views were counted on Saturday, and
by Sunday, a further 30 million views were logged. Five days after her Britain’s Got Talent performance,
Susan Boyle was a worldwide internet phenomenon. A timetable of Susan Boyle’s Internet viral
phenomenon is illustrated in Table 1.
In the case of Susan Boyle, all four factors for creating a viral campaign were at work (Hinz et al.
2011). First, content that is easily memorable (Berger and Milkman 2011; Berger and Schwartz 2011;
Gladwell 2002; Porter and Golan 2006). Susan Boyle’s viral video included deep emotional content that
was unusual and highly memorable. On the show, she performed the song ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ from the
show Les Miserable. Importantly, both the show and the song are renowned, given that they were
translated into twenty-one languages, including Japanese, Hebrew, Icelandic, Norwegian, Czech, Polish,
Spanish, and Estonian, and there have been 31 cast recordings featuring the song (Translations and Cast
Recordings 2009). To add, numerous popular singers performed the song “I Dreamed a Dream" over the
years. Susan Boyle was criticized in the press for her frumpy appearance and awkward mannerisms. Yet,
her performance was exceptional, resulting in a standing ovation and an audience in a state of shock and
jubilation. She elicited a unanimous vote taking her into the next round of competition by judges Pier

44 Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness vol. 8(3) 2014

Morgan, Amanda Holden, and Simon Cowell, giving Susan Boyle "the biggest yes [he had] ever given"
in his three years of judging the show.
Second, for campaigns to go viral, the structure of the underlying digital social network is critical
(Bampo et al. 2008). In the case of Susan Boyle, the digital social network employed was YouTube, a
platform where most of the content is uploaded by individuals, in addition to media corporations such as
CBS, the BBC, Vevo, Hulu, and other organizations offering some of their material via YouTube, as part
of the YouTube partnership program (Weber 2007). Viral videos' longevity relies on factors which draw
the audience to watch them. YouTube simplifies matters, partially because of the availability of
affordable digital cameras (Grossman 2006).
A third important factor is word of mouth pressure, described as the behavioral characteristics of
those influenced and willingness to share message (Arndt 1967). In various articles discussing Susan
Boyle’s audition, she is depicted as “frumpy” and “awkward,” and laughed at in describing her small
town and desire to be a famous singer like Elaine Paige. She is a 47 year old unemployed charity worker
who owns cats and claims “Never been kissed.” Her incredible performance was a shock to the audience,
followed by awe, cheering, and judges’ reactions of best performance ever. Most important, the heading
in the media “Never judge a book by its cover” left much for people to talk about and share among
friends in social platforms. Even more, there was Susan Boyle drama, including losing Britain’s Got
Talent; checking into a mental health institution for exhaustion, and exhibiting strange behavior; requiring
mental and psychological attention; and, fighting with her management team and family. Adding to this
was Simon Cowell and the Britain’s Got Talent team, accusations that Simon exposed her unfairly,
exploiting for the purpose of making money. British media outlets were constantly on alert, after audition
and exploiting her character and life. Her personal management team was also accused of exploiting for
the purpose of benefiting financially. Clearly, it appears that to sustain popularity and viral activity over
time, there must be constant drama worth talking about. This is important for marketers who want to
harness the power of consumers to pass along the marketing message as a freebie to the firm.
Lastly, the most important contributing factor on the success of Susan Boyle’s viral campaign was the
seeding strategy, which determines the initial targeted audience. In the case of Susan Boyle, the seeding
strategy consisted of attractive seeding points, including celebrities, media, bloggers, and twitters. An
empirical study published in Journal of Marketing shows that seeding to well-connected people is the
most successful approach because these attractive seeding points are more likely to participate in viral
marketing campaigns (Hinz et al. 2011).
On Britain’s Got Talent, Simon Crowell appears as a judge alongside Amanda Holden and Piers
Morgan. In 2004 and 2010, American magazine Time named Cowell one of the 100 most influential
people in the world (Time Magazine 2004, 2010). In 2010, British magazine New Statesman listed
Cowell at number 41 in a list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010" (New Statement 2010),
and TV Guide named him #10 in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time (TV Guide 2013).
In the voting round, Piers Morgan emphatically stated that Susan Boyle’s performance got the "biggest
yes" that he has "ever given anybody." Amanda Holden said, "Yes, definitely. Brilliant." Simon Cowell
closed by saying: "Susan Boyle, you can go back to the village with your head held high. It's three yeses."
Two days after Susan Boyle’s performance, American actor Ashton Kutcher and the first user of
Twitter to have more than 1,000,000 followers (Sutter 2009; Kaufman 2009) highlighted the Susan Boyle
Digg link through his @aplusk Twitter account. Ashton Kutcher – with an audience of 1,000,000 at his
fingertips contributed to Susan Boyle’s viral success in the United States. That day, Demi Moore
retweeted the @aplusk. Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore’s tweets were retweeted repeatedly and ‘Susan
Boyle’ turned into a Twitter trend. YouTube counts rose. The original Digg story was Dugg over and
over. Following this, Susan Boyle was featured on BBC, CNN, CBS early show, and other media.

Part 2: Content Analysis: An Exploratory Study

The content analysis study explored the relationship between the social media influencer on YouTube
video popularity. To investigate, the study extracted most popular videos from categories of music, sports

Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness vol. 8(3) 2014 45

gaming, movies, TV shows, news, and spotlight. These included 160 YouTube videos, analyzed by topic,
source, views, subscriptions, length, engagements, and audience profile.
The study examined factors that were likely to impact the social media influencer defined by (1) the
total number of videos by source author and (2) subscriber number. The variables studied included: video
topic, popularity, total number of videos from source editor, total number of views, subscriber number,
likes, dislikes, total number of comments, total number of favorites, audience, an analysis of the
transcript, key discovery events if any, and potential explanation for viral activity. While the effects were
small, it appears that the number of views and likes relate to the source author. Clearly, the source
influence on the network affects how ideas are spread and the rate of its adoption, suggesting that
targeting influential people in a network are good seeding points for a viral marketing campaign.

CONCLUSIONS

This study presents support for the importance of seeding points in influencing the success of viral
campaigns. In this article, a two-part study examined the impact of influencers on campaigns that go
viral. The empirical results show that seeding to well-connected people, celebrities, media vehicles, or
anyone with a huge following through their greater reach is the most successful approach because of
these attractive players are more likely to participate in viral marketing campaigns.
Communication models that incorporate the new type of ‘opinion leader’ and viral phenomenon
would be a fruitful avenue for future research. Another extension is to provide a foundation for future
research by clarifying the new ‘opinion leader’ construct, developing research propositions, and
constructing an integrating framework that includes antecedents and consequences of communication,
where some forms of communication are associated with the success of viral marketing campaigns. In
addition, from a marketing perspective, it would be useful to target seeding points that expedite the
diffusion of viral marketing campaigns.

TABLE 1
SUSAN BOYLE TIMELINE

 9th April – no one has heard of Susan boyle

 11th April – Susan Boyle appears on Britain’s Got Talent and performs ‘I Dreamed a
Dream’ from Les Miserables. The judges are blown away and the show attracts 10.3 million
viewers.
 11th April – Susan Boyle’s performance is uploaded (unofficially) to YouTube
 11th April – Susan Boyle’s YouTube performance Dugg by Jenocide312

46 Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness vol. 8(3) 2014

  11th April – Ashton Kutcher highlights the Susan Boyle Digg link through his @aplusk
Twitter account. Ashton Kutcher – with an audience of 1 million at his fingertips contributed to
Susan Boyle’s viral success in the United States.

 11th April – Demi Moore retweets @aplusk

 Ashton Kutcher and Demin Moore’s tweets were retreated repeatedly and ‘Susan Boyle’
turned into a Twitter trend. YouTube counts rose. The original Digg story was Digg over and
over.
 After: Appearances of Susan Boyle on BBC, CNN, CBS early show, and other media.

REFERENCES

Arndt, Johan (1967), “Role of Product-Related Conversations in the Diffusion of a New Product,”
Journal of Marketing Research, 4 (August), 291–95.
Bampo, Mauro, Michael T. Ewing, Dineli R. Mather, David Stewart, and Mark Wallace (2008), “The
Effects of the Social Structure of Digital Networks on Viral Marketing Performance,”
Information Systems Research, 19 (3), 273–90.
Berger, Jonah and Katy Milkman (2011), “Social Transmission, Emotion, and the Virality of Online
Content,” (accessed July 21, 2011), [available at
http://marketing.wharton.upenn.edu/documents/research/Virality.pdf].
Berger, Johna and Eric Schwartz (2011), “What Do People Talk About? Drivers of Immediate and
Ongoing Word-of-Mouth,” Journal of Marketing Research, forthcoming.
Bretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt; (25 March 2013). "Baddies to the Bone: The 60 nastiest villains of all time".
TV Guide, 14 - 15.
Gladwell, Malcolm (2002), The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Boston:
Back Bay Books.
Grossman, Lev (24 April 2006). "How to get famous in 3500 seconds". Time Magazine.
Henneberry, Russ (2012). “How to Find Influential People with Social Media,” Social Media Examiner,
(October 17), http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/industry-influencers
Hinz, O., Skiera, B., Barrot, C., & Becker, J. U. (2011). Seeding Strategies for Viral Marketing: An
Empirical Comparison. Journal of Marketing, 75(6), 55-71.
Kalish, Shlomo, Vijay Mahajan, and Eitan Muller (1995), “Waterfall and Sprinkler New-Product
Strategies in Competitive Global Markets,” International Journal of Research in Marketing, 12
(2), 105–119.
Kaufman, Gil (April 17, 2009). "Ashton Kutcher Beats CNN In Twitter-Off". MTV. Retrieved September
5, 2010.
Katz & Lazarsfeld (1955). "Personal Influence". New York: Free Press.
Lazarsfeld, P.F., Berelson, B. & Gaudet, H. (1944). The people’s choice: How the voter makes up his
mind in a presidential campaign. New York: Columbia University Press.
Libai, Barak, Eitan Muller, and Renana Peres (2005), “The Role of Seeding in Multi-Market Entry,”
International Journal of Research in Marketing, 22 (4), 375–93.

Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness vol. 8(3) 2014 47

Porter, Lance and Guy J. Golan (2006), “From Subservient Chickens to Brawny Men: A Comparison of
Viral Advertising to Television Advertising,” Journal of Interactive Advertising, 6 (2), 30–38.
Simon Cowell – 50 People Who Matter 2010. New Statesman (September 27, 2010).
“Susan Boyle Jumps, Harry Potter Slips on the 100 Million Viral Video Views Club”
http://goo.gl/HabYzp. Visible Measures. Retrieved June 16, 2009.
Sutter, John D. (April 15, 2009). “Ashton Kutcher challenges CNN to Twitter popularity Contest,” CNN.
Retrieved September 5, 2010.
"Translations and Cast Recordings. LesMis.com". Retrieved 6 May 2009.
Van der Lans, Ralf, Gerrit van Bruggen, Jehoshua Eliashberg, and Berend Wierenga (2010), “A Viral
Branching Model for Predicting the Spread of Electronic Word-of-Mouth,” Marketing Science,
29 (2), 348–65.
Watts, Duncan J. and Jonah Peretti (2007), “Viral Marketing for the Real World,” Harvard Business
Review, 85 (5), 22–23.
Weber, Tim (March 2, 2007). “BBC Strikes Google YouTube deal.” BBC.

48 Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness vol. 8(3) 2014