Content marketing · Empirical survey/experimental test of a staged model of recipient response to viral messages, estimating antecedents at decision stages.
A Multi-Stage Model of Word-of-Mouth Influence Through Viral Marketing
International Journal of Research in Marketing · 2008
Summary
WOM influence differs across stages of recipient decision making; sender characteristics and tie strength affect opening, processing, and forwarding/response.
For your marketing
Possible founder application
Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Reported result
What the study found
WOM influence differs across stages of recipient decision making; sender characteristics and tie strength affect opening, processing, and forwarding/response.
Research question
What the authors investigated
At which stages and through which mechanisms does WOM influence viral-marketing recipients?
Design
Empirical survey/experimental test of a staged model of recipient response to viral messages, estimating antecedents at decision stages.
Sample and setting
Recipients of viral-marketing communications; message, sender/recipient relationship, and forwarding/response outcomes are measured.
Scope and transfer
Limitations to keep in view
The communication scenario and measured intentions are not observed SaaS customer acquisition or long-run behavior; staged estimates rely partly on self-report.
Research sources
ScienceDirect and the authors’ repository identify the staged decision-process research question and empirical model. Direct publisher-page retrieval was recorded on 2026-10-09; this profile uses publisher metadata/abstract and does not claim independent review of unavailable full text.