Viral Marketing - A crucial new dimension in 21st century marketing?

Diploma Thesis from the year 2004 in the subject Communications - Public Relations, Advertising, Marketing, Social Media, grade: 1,0 (A), University of Applied Sciences Mittweida, language: English, abstract: 'Markets today are changing fast. Price-sensitive customers, new competitors, new distribution channels, new communication channels, the Internet, wireless commerce, globalization, deregulation, privatization... the list goes on. And it is not only markets that are changing, but the technologies that support them: e-commerce, e-mail, mobile phones, fax machines, sales and marketing automation, cable TV, videoconferencing. It is imperative that companies think through the revolutionary impact of these new technologies.' The above quotation illustrates two essential considerations for marketers operating in the 21st century. Firstly, it emphasises that in today's marketing world the way companies communicate with their customers as well as how customers interact with each other have changed significantly. Secondly, it points to a key implication of these changes - the necessity for companies to find innovative ways of embracing these new technologies and of dealing with the changes in a manner that supports their corporate objectives. These revolutionary changes are due first and foremost to the advent of the Internet. Following the initial stages of its development, in which it generated exuberant excitement and exaggerated expectations among companies and consumers alike, it has evolved into an important distribution and communication channel for a large number of companies. Great significance now attaches to the Internet as an integral part of many companies' promotional activities. At the same time consumers have become savvier in the use of the Internet; they appreciate that having more information at their fingertips puts them in a significantly better purchasing position: 'Buyers today can compare prices and product attributes in a matter of seconds. They are only a click away from comparing competitors' prices and can even name the price they want to pay for a hotel room, airline ticket or a mortgage and see whether any willing suppliers respond. Furthermore they can enter a chat room about an area of common interest and exchange information and opinions.'