Content and sharing · Survey-based empirical study using motivational constructs to predict forwarding of online content.
Viral Marketing: Motivations to Forward Online Content
Jason Y. C. Ho, Melanie Dempsey (2010). Viral Marketing: Motivations to Forward Online Content. Journal of Business Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2009.09.010.
Plain-English take
The need to belong, be individualistic, be altruistic, and seek personal growth are identified as motivations associated with forwarding; relative importance differs across users. For your marketing: Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
How much weight to give this
2.5/5 Evidence needs cautious interpretation
The 1–5 evidence-check score is a practical reading aid, not a formal peer review or a probability that a conclusion is true. It combines design strength (2 points), sample reporting (1), comparison/control clarity (1), and how much of the paper could be checked (1). Access affects how confidently this directory can assess a study, not the study's underlying quality. Blinding is reported separately because it is not relevant to every design.
Survey-based empirical study using motivational constructs to predict forwarding of online content.
Online users who forward online content; measures cover belonging, individualism, altruism, and personal-growth motives.
Judged from the publisher-described design and comparison; consult the paper for complete analysis.
Publisher page and abstract were retrieved directly; full text was not assumed open.
Double-blind? Blinding was not established from the retrieved publisher record.
Research question
What the authors investigated
What motivations lead consumers to forward online content?
Design
Survey-based empirical study using motivational constructs to predict forwarding of online content.
Sample and setting
Online users who forward online content; measures cover belonging, individualism, altruism, and personal-growth motives.
Reported result
What the study found
The need to belong, be individualistic, be altruistic, and seek personal growth are identified as motivations associated with forwarding; relative importance differs across users.
This is a paraphrase of the source. Check the original paper for definitions, estimates, statistical uncertainty and analysis details.
Scope and transfer
Limitations to keep in view
Self-reported forwarding and cross-sectional survey design limit causal claims and may not predict actual referrals or paid conversion.
Possible founder application
Use it as a behavioral mechanism or experiment-design reference, not a direct forecast for a SaaS funnel.
Evidence access
Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; full text may require access.
ScienceDirect abstract explicitly lists the four motivation categories and frames the paper as viral-marketing forwarding research. 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.
If only an abstract or metadata was available, the profile is limited to claims supported there. A paper's paywall does not change its evidentiary status, but it limits what we can substantiate from accessible text.