In today's socially connected world marketers are turning to social video as a way of extending campaign reach and gaining cut-through. However knowledge on which creative characteristics are related to successful diffusion, is limited. In this research we consider how two constructs of emotional response (arousal and valence), both separately and collectively are related to how videos are shared. Two large data sets are considered, one commercial and one non-commercial ( n800), with levels of actual daily sharing recorded for all videos examined. We find that high arousal emotions are the primary driver of video sharing and while valance plays a role, it does so to a lesser extent. This study is the largest of its kind and makes a significant contribution to our understanding of what makes a successful viral video.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.