The interconnected role of strength of brand and interpersonal relationships and user comment valence on brand video sharing behaviour

This study addresses gaps in our understanding of viral advertising by examining the following questions: (1) how do brand relationships, interpersonal relationships, and user comment valence influence decisions to accept referrals of and re-share online video ads, and (2) how do the roles of each intertwine to influence those decisions. A national sample (N = 405) of 18- to 34-year-old Facebook users participated in a 2 (stronger/weaker brand relationship strength) × 2 (stronger/weaker interpersonal relationship strength) × 2 (positive/negative user comments) experiment. The results show that interpersonal relationships, brand relationships, and valence of user comments play different, but intertwining roles in social networking site users' acceptance of viral video ads and decisions to re-share. Interpersonal relationships most strongly influenced ad referral acceptance while brand relationships and comment valence drove re-sharing. A three-way interaction, however, revealed that positive user comments greatly strengthen the brand's impact on referral acceptance; negative comments strongly negate brand influence.