Guerrilla marketing on Facebook: A mixed-method study on the effects on brand image and content sharing intentions
Keywords:
guerrilla marketing campaigns, unconventional marketing, ambush marketing, ambient marketing, invisible marketing, Facebook user behavior, publicityAbstract
Guerrilla marketing is an alternative way to communicate with customers, by using creative and unexpected messages and channels to stand out in the marketing communication crowd. Despite practitioners’ growing interest on the topic, the contributions in the literature are still scarce. This study aims to explore the impacts of guerrilla marketing campaigns on Facebook on brand image and content sharing intentions. A mixed method research was adopted. The first phase had a more exploratory nature and used focus groups to analyse customers’ perceptions and responses towards guerrilla marketing campaigns. It was followed by a quantitative study of 256 Portuguese consumers that answered an online survey after being exposed to a guerrilla marketing campaign on Facebook. Results suggest that customer interaction with guerrilla marketing on Facebook depends on content’s characteristics, namely the message appeal. While humour appeal enhances the relationship with customers by increasing the level of interaction, negative appeals (e.g., perceived as offensive) generate adverse reactions. This study also shows that frequent Facebook users have a greater predisposition to interact with guerrilla marketing content.
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