Viral marketing : from advertising effectiveness to ethical risks

Abstract EN

Despite its youth age as an innovative e-marketing technic, Viral Marketing generated a lot of excitement, and buzz on the web by, on one hand, achieving extraordinary results ever achieved before in the advertising field and creating a lot of excitement with respect to ethical issues as many viral campaigns have shocked the community with their intentionally well-conceived unethical contents.

Based on many cases of controverted viral marketing campaigns, the present article tries to highlight Viral Marketing ethical concerns and discuss the element of risks that could compromise its legitimacy.