The Role of Music in Viral Video Advertisements

Abstract

Drawing on theoretical insights from multidisciplinary research in the fields of Advertising, Digital Media and Internet Marketing, this research paper is set out to explore the role of music in viral video advertisements. More specifically, this paper investigates the effect that music fit and music popularity have in driving large numbers of Social Media users to share the same video advertisement in social networks and consequently improve the video's virality. In order to investigate whether music fit and music popularity impact a Social Media user's decision to share a video advertisement in social networks, it was decided to develop three new versions of a video advertisement that already went viral and examine whether they could be as shareable as the original video if the background music was different. The results suggest that music fit has an impact on the decision of a Social Media user to share a video advertisement in social networks. Moreover, background music being popular alone does not significantly increase the likelihood of sharing the video advertisement. However, when the background music used is popular and it also fits the video advertisement's plot and visuals, then the Social Media users' likelihood of sharing the video advertisement in social networks is significantly increased. Overall, by taking into consideration the conclusions drawn by this study, online media producers and marketing practitioners can start developing online video advertisements that are more likely to go viral. Consequently, this will improve the possibility of creating online "buzz" while also assisting them in meeting other key Viral Marketing objectives.