Toward Successful Social Media Viral Marketing: A Knowledge Management Approach

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants that lead organizations to go viral through knowledge management (KM). KM has been widely recognized as a main driver of competitive advantage, as well as of the success of the organization. Indeed, the significance of knowledge on organizational activities has increased dramatically within the economical era and researchers believe that KM is an important organizational resource to enhance firms’ competitive capabilities. Moreover, many recent studies have pointed out the importance of social media as a competitive marketing tool, as it creates a platform of true interactivity. Viral marketing (VM) on social media refers to the dissemination of specific content or material about an organization or product by individuals through social media. Viral campaigns are considered to have many advantages over traditional media campaigns, particularly in respect to reach and cost-effectiveness. Consequently, VM has attracted the attention of marketers and researchers who are seeking to identify the characteristics of knowledge and information shared online and what leads to the customers’ sharing behavior via social media. This paper and its conclusion will add to this body of research by filling the aforementioned gap in the literature, namely by exploring the firms’ determinants of achieving viral status on digital platforms in Bahrain. This paper also points out the limitations and possible directions of future research.