<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> Due to the rapid growth of the Internet and use of e-commerce in the recent years, viral marketing has drawn the attention of manufacturing and service organizations. However, no research has been conducted to examine the impact of message appeal and message source credibility on consumers’ attitude with mediating role of intellectual involvement of consumers and their risk taking level. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of appeal and message source credibility on consumers’ attitude with mediating role of consumers’ intellectual involvement and their risk taking level. The population of this study includes consumers of mobile phones (Samsung, Sony, Nokia, LG and iPhone) in the Bushehr city (Iran). As the population of the study is unlimited, 430 questionnaires were distributed using available sampling method, and 391 questionnaires were collected and analyzed. Using structural equation modeling, we analysed the data through smart PLS software. The results show that the appeal and credibility of the message source impact the consumer attitudes toward the brand. We also found that the intellectual involvement of consumers plays the mediating role in the relationship between message appeal and consumer attitudes toward brands. In the relationship between message source credibility and customer attitude towards the brand, the level of risk taking of people has no mediating role.</p></abstract>

Due to the rapid growth of the Internet and use of e-commerce in the recent years, viral marketing has drawn the attention of manufacturing and service organizations. However, no research has been conducted to examine the impact of message appeal and message source credibility on consumers’ attitude with mediating role of intellectual involvement of consumers and their risk taking level. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of appeal and message source credibility on consumers’ attitude with mediating role of consumers’ intellectual involvement and their risk taking level. The population of this study includes consumers of mobile phones (Samsung, Sony, Nokia, LG and iPhone) in the Bushehr city (Iran). As the population of the study is unlimited, 430 questionnaires were distributed using available sampling method, and 391 questionnaires were collected and analyzed. Using structural equation modeling, we analysed the data through smart PLS software. The results show that the appeal and credibility of the message source impact the consumer attitudes toward the brand. We also found that the intellectual involvement of consumers plays the mediating role in the relationship between message appeal and consumer attitudes toward brands. In the relationship between message source credibility and customer attitude towards the brand, the level of risk taking of people has no mediating role.

Investigating the impact of viral message appeal and message credibility on consumer attitude toward the brand

Management & Marketing

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Due to the rapid growth of the Internet and use of e-commerce in the recent years, viral marketing has drawn the attention of manufacturing and service...

Investigating the impact of viral message appeal and message credibility on consumer attitude toward the brand

Publié en ligne: 10 août 2016

Pages: 470 - 483

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/mmcks-2016-0010

Mots clés
viral marketing, message appeal, message source credibility, consumer attitude, the level of intellectual involvement, the level of risk taking

© 2016

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Investigating the impact of viral message appeal and message credibility on consumer attitude toward the brand

Publié en ligne: 10 août 2016

Pages: 470 - 483

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/mmcks-2016-0010

Mots clésviral marketing, message appeal, message source credibility, consumer attitude, the level of intellectual involvement, the level of risk taking

© 2016

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Mots clés
viral marketing, message appeal, message source credibility, consumer attitude, the level of intellectual involvement, the level of risk taking