TY - JOUR T1 - Viral Marketing or Electronic Word-of-Mouth Advertising: Examining Consumer Responses and Motivations to Pass Along Email JF - Journal of Advertising Research JO - J Advert Res SP - 333 LP - 348 DO - 10.1017/S0021849904040371 VL - 44 IS - 4 AU - Joseph E. Phelps AU - Regina Lewis AU - Lynne Mobilio AU - David Perry AU - Niranjan Raman Y1 - 2004/12/01 UR - http://www.journalofadvertisingresearch.com/content/44/4/333.abstract N2 - Although viral marketing has garnered a great deal of attention in the trade press, almost nothing is known about the motivations, attitudes, and behaviors of the people (those sending the email to others) that constitute the essential component of any such strategy. This article reports the results of three studies that examine consumer responses and motivations to pass along email. Implications for target selection and message creation are discussed for advertising practitioners interested in implementing viral efforts, and suggestions for future research relating to computer-mediated consumer-to-consumer interactions are presented for academic researchers. ER -