the set of all adopters [10]. For instance, in the case of a word processing package, the benefits
from the increased probability of having knowledgeable users to turn to for help when
encountering problems or the ability to exchange documents easily are network externalities
created when a workgroup or community adopts and uses the same software. Together,
these two dimensions highlight four quadrants—regimes in which the nature of the influence
and the factors underlying the recipient’s decision to comply with the influence
attempt are qualitatively different (see Figure 1). The descriptive labels used for the four
quadrants of the framework are:
Awareness Creation and Benefits Signaling (ACBS). In this quadrant, the role
of the influencer in persuasion is passive and the network externalities are minimal.
Users emailing online greeting cards from Web sites such as Hallmark or BlueMountain
to connected others represent typical instances of ACBS. When a user sends out
a card from the site, the recipients get a personalized email message informing them
of a greeting created by the sender available at the site and providing the URL to
access it. The URL directs visitors to the card on site and once there, he or she is
offered the choice to send a greeting to the original sender or to a connected other.
In this process, recipients are made aware of the service offered by the site and are persuaded
to use it. The role of the influencer is mainly to create awareness and signal
benefits to others within their social network and can be particularly influential in
encouraging trial and adoption of novel products and services. As in the case of Hotmail,
this can be very important in helping to build a large user base in a very short
time.
TR’s utility hinges on the ability of the recommender to accurately predict the
recipient’s interests and preferences (based on his or her private information). This is
advantageous for sites that offer a broad array of content (such as ESPN.com which
covers sixteen sports in detail), as the information provided by the influencer enables
relevant content to be provided to recipients. The information provided by influencers
thus enables the site to successfully serve a broad audience in a focused manner.
The efforts of firms such as Amazon.com and eBay to encourage users to email
the details of products and prices to friends, and of the large number of music sites
such as mp3.com that provide facilities for users to email music to friends sharing
their interests are instances of viral marketing initiatives in this quadrant.
Though there is little reliable data on the effectiveness of this approach, the experience
of ideavirus.com, a content provider, indicates that 56% of the recipients
referred to content at the site by a recommender visited it and over 60% of these visitors
also downloaded content that was recommended. This suggests that influencers
can be fairly accurate in anticipating interests of connected others, signaling the
promise of this approach to identify potential adopters and users.
Signaling Use, Group Membership (SGM). This quadrant comprises contexts
where the influencer’s role is passive but there are significant externalities accruing to
both the recipient and the influencer. Instances include the use of specific kinds of
products, for example, file compression utilities such as winzip and animation software
such as Flash. When a user sends the connected other a file compressed using
winzip as an email attachment or makes a Flash animation available on a homepage,
the recommender’s role in spreading the word about the software is passive.2 In the
initial stages of the lifecycle when a software package is not widely known and used,
early users are generally viewed as being technically advanced. The influencer’s recommendation, albeit passive, has the effect of signaling the user’s membership in a
group with desirable attributes. There are positive externalities associated with usage
as all users benefit from the broader base of support services for the format enabled
by wider adoption