Seeding Viral Content

Liu-Thompkins, Yuping (2012), “Seeding Viral Content: Lessons from the Diffusion of Online Videos,” Journal of Advertising Research, 52 (4), 465-478. [Download Full-Text PDF]
*Winner of Journal of Advertising Research 2013 Best Paper Award.

Abstract: Online viral campaigns require a seeding strategy, which involves choosing the first generation consumers to spread a viral message to. Building on social capital theory and social network analysis, this research examines key aspects of the seeding strategy by tracking the diffusion of one hundred and one new videos published on YouTube. The results show that the need for a “big seed” strategy (i.e., using many seed consumers) depends on message quality. Furthermore, one should choose consumers who have strong ties with the advertiser, and who have strong influence on others rather than simply wider reach. Among seed consumers, they should share a moderate amount of interest overlap instead of being too homogeneous or heterogeneous as a group.