Social media as marketing information systems: Co-creation in viral advertising

The chapter discusses the impact of the advent and dominance of Social Media in e-marketing. Drawing on concepts from the Social Sciences and the Information Systems field, we propose an understanding of Social Media as useful Marketing Information Systems, which increasingly support the e-marketing function. More specifically, we explore the changing role of customers who as they become increasingly engaged in the Social Media Ecosystem and form communities of interest around certain products, they assume a more active role in co-creating and spreading marketing messages. To demonstrate this process we discuss the case of branded videos that are developed as part of viral marketing campaigns. We show that branded videos constitute digital objects that combine certain content characteristics (visuals, sound, plot), which create cultural and emotional references that help engage customers and contribute to the video's virality in Social Media.