The role of viral advertising in brand equity building

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2014 in the subject Business economics - Marketing, Corporate Communication, CRM, Market Research, Social Media, , language: English, abstract: This paper presents the role of viral marketing in building brand equity. There are many well known theories that are generally accepted regarding brand equity. Although these theories are quite old, they are still used in academic research. According to Keller (1993:39): "Brand equity is defined in terms of the marketing effects uniquely attributable to the brand". Aaker elaborated the brand equity dimensions, however, his theories do not explain what the direct causes of brand equity are. The present study is based on the existing theories on brand equity and viral marketing and provides new insights developed for the football players. There are limited research and theories on this case. The focus of the study will be on brand equity which is developed when the consumer knows the brand. The other dimensions of brand equity such as brand loyalty and perceived quality are created when the consumers know the brand. The present thesis, in particular, does not focus on the effects of brand equity but it is mostly concerned with brand awareness. This applies in case of football players and consequently, it results in a deeper comprehension on how important brand awareness is for the development of brand equity.The present thesis focuses on a relatively new topic which is word-of-mouth through the Internet, in other words, viral marketing. Although, in recent years, there are many studies on viral marketing, however, there is little known on how effective viral marketing is and the extent on which it influences the actual behavior of the consumer. This thesis will provide a better understanding on the extent of viral marketing effectiveness on brand awareness and equity which will help in explaining if viral marketing is a useful tool to use to develop brand awareness which in its turn will result in brand equity. All relevant marketing theories regarding viral marketing and brand equity are used as a theoretical reference when the football players branding practices are being assessed and explained. Developing a real brand is important for a football player to continue his business career when his athletic career ends.