*Dear all,
Please join us for the Applied Statistics Workshop (Gov 3009) this
Wednesday, October 10 from 12.00 - 1.30 pm in CGIS Knafel Room 354. Thales
Teixeira <http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=522373>,
Assistant Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business
School, will give a presentation entitled "Viral Video Advertising". As
always, a light lunch will be provided.
Abstract:*
To become viral, online video ads need to be viewed and then shared. Yet,
what works for one decision may not work for the
other. In this research we
propose a novel consumer-centric model of viral advertising consisting of
viewing and sharing decisions. We apply the model to assess the role of
humor, present in 91% of viral ads, by teasing out the differential impact
that type of humor (pure or shocking) has on each decision. In the lab, we
record the facial expressions of consumers as they watch online ads
containing either pure (i.e., smile, laughter) or shocking humor (e.g.,
shock from profanity), and examine its impact on their decisions. The video
data is processed using face tracking software and used to calibrate a
dynamic sequential model that accounts for both within and cross-decision
dynamics. We find that shocking humor increases viewing but reduces sharing
compared to no humor at all. Yet, content isn't the only factor of viral ad
success; individual traits also matter. We also find that highly
extraverted and self-directed consumers share humor ads more often and to a
broader group of people each time. The magnitude of the effects of these
two novel findings is then measured in a viral field study in which we
selectively sent ads to participants and tracked views derived from
sharing. We find that extraverted people garnered 300% more total views by
sharing non-shocking humor ads than introverted people sharing ads low in
humor.
**
An up-to-date schedule for the workshop is available at
http://www.iq.harvard.edu/events/node/1208.
Best,
Konstantin
--
Konstantin Kashin
Ph.D. Candidate in Government
Harvard University
Mobile: 978-844-0538
E-mail: kkashin(a)fas.harvard.edu
Site:
http://www.konstantinkashin.com/<http://people.fas.harvard.edu/%7Ekkashi…