Investigating the dark side of viral marketing via social media: Empirical evidence from tourism services in Iraq

Abstract

The current study aims to investigate the motives of customers through social media to spread negative messages in their social environment through negative comments about services on the websites and pages of some tourism companies and their impact on their purchasing intentions for those services. The data collected from (250) customers in the Iraqi environment was analyzed as a primary data source to verify the applied evidence of the negative impact on the expected marketing performance of tourism companies. Using structural equation modeling, the study's hypothetical model was tested to investigate the motives of viral marketing and its impact on customer purchasing intentions. The study concluded that there is a mediating role for viral marketing in directing customers’ purchasing intentions, and it shows that there are main motives that motivate tourists in Iraq to publish real or expected experiences with tourism companies and show personal discussions. The most prominent of these motives is venting feelings of anger towards companies that fail to To meet their expectations, the study showed that customers tend to launch digital communications to negatively describe products or consumption experiences based on their pure intention to help others and prevent them from experiencing error. The study recommended the necessity of structural recognition by companies of the function of viral marketing as a strategic tool that makes it easier for the company to conduct many marketing activities at the lowest cost and to understand the importance of viral marketing to Iraqi tourists, and in any other place, as an effective marketing tool.