The Impacts of Viral Marketing on

Destination Image

Mariella Su

Diploma in International Hotel and Tourism Management

HTMi Switzerland

Introduction

People always have a prejudice and expectation of the destinations that they are

travelling to, possibly due to the influence of friends' perception, online research

and social media. Trip advisor and WebPages like blogs, Facebook, Twitter and

YouTube are usually their common sources of information. Reynolds (1965)

stated that stereotypical thinking plays a part in forming destination image as

well (Govers, Go and Kumar, 2007). As information from different sources slowly

builds up, destination image also develops in one's mind (Leisen, 2001). In the

last decade, elevation of the technology has brought about much benefit to

people all over the world. Exchange of information and communication across

borders is much easier as a result of globalization. Competition between different

companies intensifies as they introduce more and more new marketing strategies

to catch the public's attention. Subsequently, a new marketing trend was

observed over the past decade. It is viral marketing, especially electric word-of-

mouth (eWOM). As part of their research, Sharma et al. (2011-2012) suggested

that the most common and conventional way to spread information was through

word-of-mouth (WOM). However, as technology advances, eWOM became more

significant in daily communication and marketing.

In 1999, a term named 'e-fluential' was created by Burson-Marsteller to describe

the effect of Internet on people's behaviour and thinking today (Burson

Marsteller, 2005 cited in Sharma and Morales-Arroyo et al., 2012). eWOM is one

of the techniques used to create e-fluential effect on people. Operations and

individuals that spotted the great power of social media began marketing

through this channel due to its convenience. The combination of both social

media and WOM created the buzzword 'viral marketing'. Today, almost every

business and individual uses the technique of viral marketing. The constant

change of destination image is not an exception too. Through this paper, the

author is going to research more about the impacts of viral marketing on

destination image.

Concepts and theories of Viral Marketing

Wilson (2012) states that viral marketing is any form of marketing techniques a

person uses to spread a message to other people, given that the likelihood of the

message will create a huge impact and publicity among the crowd. On the other

hand, some argued that viral marketing is an aspect in marketing which aides

and supports people in passing a marketing message (Marketingterms.com,

2013). This strategy is highly effective and allows a message to spread extremely

fast within a short period of time (Stewart and Ewing et al., 2009).

Today, viral marketing is commonly used to describe marketing of a product or

idea on the Internet where information is highly accessible and available.

However, viral marketing does not include Internet only. It also includes the

traditional WOM. Unlike traditional marketing methods, viral marketing obtains

a quick output. In the past, people spread message through WOM, however, with

the advancement of technology and globalization, WOM is reinforced to become

electronic word of mouth (eWOM) (Howard, 2005). eWOM uses electronic

products like Internet and mobile phones to spread messages.

Figure 1: Viral Marketing Model (Sirf Marketing, 2013)

To quote from Pariñas Jerico (2011), "the main objectives of viral marketing are

social profile gathering, proximity market analysis and real-time key word

density analysis." The marketing party can pair up with the addressed customers

at a profitable position as long as these goals are meet and fulfilled (Jerico, 2011).

Through viral marketing, the idea or campaign reach the filtered target market

and hence, achieve the goal of making the idea or product the topic of discussion

among the people. (Stewart and Ewing et al., 2009).

Concepts and Theories of Destination Image

According to Lawson and Baud Bovy (1977), destination image is formed by a

combination of several people or individual's biased and unbiased judgment,

feelings and creative thoughts on a specific place. However, Valls (1992) pointed

out that, from consumers' standpoint, destination image is the collection of

consumers' opinions (Lopes and Others, 2011). The concept of destination image

is normally applied in the tourism industry as it is closely related to the decision

making process of tourists. The evolution of destination image can be affected by

three sources. They are "supply side or destination, independent or autonomous,

and demand-side or image receivers" (Tasci and Gartner, 2007, p.415).

Figure 2: Model of the Formation of Destination Image (Beerli and Martin, 2004, p. 660)

Figure 3: Types of Secondary Image (Lopes et al., 2011, p. 311)

Figure 2 shows the formation of destination image. To explain the model in other

words, the factors affecting the formation of destination image can be classified

into internal and external. Internal factors include personal belief, values,

intention and past experience. The visual appearance produced in their mind

with the influence of internal factors eventually ends up being the subjective

image of the destination (Beerli and Martı´n, 2004).

In addition, figure 3 elaborates more on secondary information source. Baloglu

and Mccleary, 1999, stated that external factors could be further divided into

typical and social provocations. They mentioned that typical provocation is

media while social provocations are friends, families and word-of-mouth.

Reisinger and Turner (2002) also stated that WOM is a vital method to transmit

information and influence customers' decisions on destination of travel. In 1986,

Phelps (cited in Beerli and Martı´n, 2004) suggested that the image formed by

organic, induced and autonomous sources of information is usually one's

prejudice before the experience. In general, destination image is affected by one's

emotions and knowledge of the place regardless whether the source of

information is self-obtained or induced. Both internal and external sources will

form the intellectual image first. Over time, emotion will be attached depending

on the positivity of the information. Intellectual knowledge and emotions

contributes to the final perceived image of the destination.

Viral Marketing and Destination Image

The aim of viral marketing is to catch people's attention and make them discuss

about the product or idea the company is marketing on. To stand out from all the

other commercial clips, promotions, viral marketing is a better channel to spread

the message, given that the content is interesting and unforgettable (Ackers,

2010). Figure 2 shows the different types of destination image formation; organic

or induced. Organic information and illustrations of the destination are usually

derived from impartial sources. Whereas, induced image is seemed as the

purpose of media promotion and marketing (McCartney, Butler and Bennet,

2008). Viral marketing, which falls under media promotion, is a way to form

induced destination image. Therefore, through the use of social media and WOM,

destination image can be formed either positively or negatively as messages

spread through viral marketing are usually uncontrollable as it is difficult to track

who has received it.

The Use of Viral Marketing in Different Industries

Viral Marketing in the General Business Industry

Based on the definition, concepts and characteristics of viral marketing, more

and more companies from different industries are beginning to adopt this

marketing technique. For example, Business industry (Dobele, Toleman and

Beverland, 2005), Tourism industry (Jalilv and Samiei et al., 2012; Schlegelmilch

and Ollenburg, 2013) and Food and Beverage industry (Kathryn and Chester,

2009). Jim Nail even (cited in Ferguson, 2008) claimed that viral is the next

development phase of loyalty regimen. Successful viral marketing campaign

should connect to the audience emotionally, seize their imagination (Sterne,

Priore, 2000; Dobele and Lindgreen et al., 2007) and be directed to the right

market (Dobele and Lindgreen et al., 2007; Ferguson, 2008). According to

Ferguson, 2008, (cited from Inc. magazine) viral marketing technique is adopted

by 82% of the aggressively developing individual companies.

Viral Marketing in Hospitality and Tourism Industry

Jalilv and Samiei et al., 2012 discovered that tourists view the sharing of past

experience from surrounding people and online reviews extremely important.

From future, probable visitors' point of view, suggestions from past travellers are

most reliable (Jalilv and Samiei et al., 2012). Pleasing experiences tend to create

an urge in tourists to share their wonderful experience with either their families

or friends or through the internet (Jalilv and Samiei et al., 2012; Yeoh, Othman

and Ahmad, 2013). Furthermore, results have proven that online comments and

reviews made by tourists can affect people's travel motivation former to the trip

(Sharma and Morales-Arroyo et al., 2012 and Jalilv and Samiei et al., 2012). The

key to knowing the constant-changing preferences of the tourists and their

thoughts is for brand or destination manager’s operator to collect tourists' online

reviews and comments (Litvin, Goldsmith and Pan, 2008; Jalilv and Samiei et al.,

2012). This can help to resolve the current problems faced and protect the

destination brand or image from further harm. In relation to Hospitality and

Tourism, Food and Beverage industry has identified adolescents as the biggest

target market as because most of them are active on different media platforms

today. Thus, viral marketing campaigns can easily catch their attention. Past

research done have also shown how reciprocal digital marketing is found to be

the most effective (Montgomery and Chester, 2009). The six highlights mentioned

are pervasive relatedness, customization, participation, engagement, mutual

connection through Internet and lastly, idea formation. They are the aspects that

should be fulfilled before claiming the campaign successful.

Destination Image in relation with Tourists' Motivation and

Perception

Many past researchers have looked into the topic on destination image and how

it is inter-related to tourists' desire and perception. (Ekinci, 2003; Govers, Go and

Kumar, 2007; Lin and Huang, 2009; Stewart and Ewing et al., 2009; Chen and

Phou, 2013). Some of them did case studies on specific countries. For example,

Russia (Stepchenkova and Morrison, 2006) and Taiwan (Lin and Huang, 2009;

Chen and Phou, 2013). In the studies done on Taiwan, tourists' perception which

then affect their ambition can be classified into five main aspects. They are firstly

destination brand, atmosphere, culture and tradition, environment and lastly

entertainment and activities (Lin and Huang, 2009; Chen and Phou, 2013). On the

other hand, for tourists travelling to Russia, the nine main aspects of destination

image which can affect their interest are conventional tourism, framework, niche

tourism, safety, history, food and culture, service, adventure and family/adult

(Stepchenkova and Morrison, 2008). Based the findings done, the author assume

that before travelling, tourists first look out for basic necessities like safety and

physiological needs before considering other factors like entertainment since

most of the aspects covers the bottom layers of Maslow's pyramid on hierarchy of

needs.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The author discussed and explained the theories on the formation of destination

image. They can either be due to the influence of foreign sources or personal

experience/impression of the place. On the other hand, viral marketing,

especially with the use to technology, is said to be the most effective way to

spread information, as transmission is instant. Past research and studies have

shown that successful marketing campaigns are able to connect with their target

market emotionally. With proven results on the effectiveness of viral marketing,

from the scale of countries, industries to individual, they can check if they have

fulfilled the necessary requirements to creating a successful viral marketing

campaign. There is never a limit to creativity, as long as there is a fresh, unique

idea or selling point, it is most likely going to be well-received by the public.

However, market research should be done to evoke feelings from the audience

and campaign should be targeted at the right market. The paper also mentioned

a little on the impacts of viral marketing on destination image. In simple words,

the direct impact is either valuable or harmful to the image. Additionally, it can

also affect the decisions and thoughts of tourists. During the research phase, the

author was not able to find many articles that investigate thoroughly on the

impacts of viral marketing on destination image.

Only minimal evidence and results proved that viral marketing is the most

effective marketing technique. Future researchers looking into this topic should

create a viral marketing campaign that helps to measure the effectiveness of viral

marketing. To ensure the fairness and credibility of the findings, statistics should

be collected from a group of people with different gender, age, nationalities and

backgrounds. In this paper, the author did not elaborate in details the impacts of

viral marketing due to limited or irrelevant information from the sources. To the

industry, the author would suggest them to explore deeper into why certain

campaigns are more popular and vice versa. This will link to the topic on

consumer behaviour. Studies should be done in conjunction for both topics so

that a best conclusion can be drawn. Countries and operations will then be able

to cater better to tourists' and customers' needs. As a result, a win-win situation

can be obtained, satisfaction level of the tourists increase.

References

Ackers, M. 2010. Viral Marketing For Tourism. Tourism Industry Blog, [blog] 23

March, Available at: http://www.tourismindustryblog.co.nz/2010/03/viral-

marketing-for-tourism/ [Accessed on 1 November 2013].

Baloglu, S. and Mccleary, K. (1999) A model of destination image formation.

Annals of tourism research, 26 (4), 874.

Beerli, A. and Martin, J. (2004) Factors influencing destination image. Annals of

tourism research, 31 (3), 657-681.

Champman, A. 2001. Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. [online] Available at:

http://www.businessballs.com/maslow.htm [Accessed on 10 November 2013].

Chen, C. and Phou, S. (2013) A closer look at destination: Image, personality,

relationship and loyalty. Tourism Management, 36, 273-274.

Dobele, A., Toleman, D. and Beverl. (2005) Controlled infection! Spreading the

brand message through viral marketing. Business Horizons, 48 (2), 143-149.

Dobele, A., Lindgreen, A., Beverl, Vanhamme, J. and Van Wijk, R. (2007) Why pass

on viral messages? Because they connect emotionally. Business Horizons, 50 (4),

291-304.

Govers, R., Go, F. and Kumar, K. (2007) Promoting tourism destination image.

Journal of Travel Research, 46 (1), 15-23.

Howard, T. 2005. 'Viral' advertising spreads through marketing plans. USA Today,

[online] 22nd June. Available at:

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/advertising/2005-06-22-viral-

usat_x.htm [Accessed on 26 October 2013]

Jalilv, R., Samiei, N., Dini, B. and Yaghoubi Manzari, P. (2012) Examining the

structural relationships of electronic word of mouth, destination image, tourist

attitude toward destination and travel intention: An integrated approach. Journal

of Destination Marketing \& Management. Available at:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science [Accessed on 27 October 2013]

Jenkins, O. H. (1999). Understanding and measuring tourist destination images.

Wiley Online Library: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Available from:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/(SICI)1522-

1970(199901/02)1:1%3C1::AID-JTR143%3E3.0.CO;2-L/abstract [Accessed on

24 September 2013]

Jerico, P. (2011) Spread the Words through Viral Marketing. Xing, [blog] 28th

April, Available at: http://www.xing.com/net/contentmanagement/online-

marketing-und-web-analysis-19503/spread-the-words-through-viral-marketing-

36573140 [Accessed on 16 October 2013].

Kendall College. 2013. Kendall College Releases Forecast on 2014 Hospitality

Trends. [online] Available at: http://www.kendall.edu/news-and-events/news-

detail/kendall-college-releases-forecast-on-2014-hospitality-trends [Accessed

on 21 October 2013].

Litvin, S., Goldsmith, R. and Pan, B. (2008) Electronic word-of-mouth in

hospitality and tourism management. Tourism management, 29 (3), 462-463.

Lopes, S. and Others. (2011) Destination image: Origins, developments and

implications. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural, 9 (2), 305-315.

McCartney, G., Butler, R. and Bennett, M. (2008) A strategic use of the

communication mix in the destination image-formation process. Journal of Travel

Research, 47 (2), 184-195.

Manhas, P.S., Grupta, D.R. and Dogra, J. (2012). Destination brand building,

promotion & branding: impact analysis of brand building elements. Tourism

Destination Management: Strategic Practices and Policies, 390-405.

Marketingterms.com. 2013. Marketing Terms - Viral Marketing. [online] Available

at: http://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/viral_marketing/ [Accessed on

26 October 2013]

Reisinger, Y. and Turner, L. (2002) Cross-Cultural Behaviour in Tourism. Oxford:

Elsevier. Available at: http://books.google.ch/ [Accessed on 26 October 2013]

Sharma, R., Morales-Arroyo, M., P and Ey, T. (2012) The Emergence of Electronic

Word-of-Mouth as a Marketing Channel for the Digital Marketplace. Journal of

Information, Information Technology, and Organizations, 6, 44-45.

Sirf Marketing. 2013. Viral-Marketing-Model. [image online] Available at:

http://sirfmarketing.com/2013/07/16/viral-marketing/viral-marketing-model/

[Accessed on 26 Oct 2013]

Stepchenkova, S. and Morrison, A. (2008) Russia's destination image among

American pleasure travelers: Revisiting Echtner and Ritchie. Tourism

Management, 29 (3), 557.

Tasci, A. and Gartner, W. (2007) Destination image and its functional

relationships. Journal of travel research, 45 (4), 413-425.

Wilson, R.F. 2012. The Six Simple Principles of Viral Marketing. [online] Available

at: http://webmarketingtoday.com/articles/viral-principles/ [Accessed on 17

October 2013]

Yeoh, E., Othman, K. and Ahmad, H. (2013) Understanding medical tourists:

Word-of-mouth and viral marketing as potent marketing tools. Tourism

Management, 34, 199.