What makes a video go viral? An analysis of emotional contagion and Internet memes

Authors:
Rosanna E. Guadagno;Daniel M. Rempala;Shannon Murphy;Bradley M. Okdie
Affiliations:
National Science Foundation, Division of Behavioral and Cognitive and Social Sciences, United States;Department of Psychology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, United States;Department of Psychology, University of Alabama, United States;Department of Psychology, Ohio State University at Newark, United States
Venue:
Computers in Human Behavior
Year:
2013

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Abstract

What qualities lead some Internet videos to reach millions of viewers while others languish in obscurity? This question has been largely unexamined empirically. We addressed this issue by examining the role of emotional response and video source on the likelihood of spreading an Internet video by validating the emotional response to an Internet video and investigating the underlying mechanisms. Results indicated that individuals reporting strong affective responses to a video reported greater intent to spread the video. In terms of the role of the source, anger-producing videos were more likely to be forwarded but only when the source of the video was an out-group member. These results have implications for emotional contagion, social influence, and online behavior.