Forwarding viral messages: what part does emotion play?

Viral marketing continues to prove a cost effective and efficient tool for the dissemination of marketing messages from firms to clients and beyond. But why is it that some messages are forwarded (and forwarded again and again and again) while other messages do not make it past the first inbox? This paper uses ten viral messages to explore the forwarding behaviour of ten viral messages. Forwarding/non-forwarding behaviour is linked to emotion as a possible motivator and explanation of behaviour. Results indicate that the use of emotion, specifically humour, matched with an original use of technology encourages forwarding behaviour. Males and females are alike in their willingness to forward a message that engages them and to delete a message that does not, for example, make them laugh