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Library exercise 2 & 3

Searching For Scholarly and Primary Sources

Oct 21, 2022. By Sierra Zhang.

EXERCISE #2

  • Berger, Jonah, and Katherine L. Milkman. “What Makes Online Content Viral?” Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 49, no. 2, Apr. 2012, pp. 192–205. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23142844. 

  • Tellis, Gerard J., et al. “What Drives Virality (Sharing) of Online Digital Content? The Critical Role of Information, Emotion, and Brand Prominence.” Journal of Marketing, vol. 83, no. 4, Apr. 2019, pp. 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242919841034

  • Quesenberry, Keith A., and Michael K. Coolsen. “Drama Goes Viral: Effects of Story Development on Shares and Views of Online Advertising Videos.” Journal of Interactive Marketing, vol. 48, no. 1, May 2019, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intmar.2019.05.001.

EXERCISE #3

[1] Blendtec’s Will It Blend. Will It Blend? - iPad. 2010, https://youtu.be/lAl28d6tbko.

This is the most popular (viral) “Will It Blend?” Video ever produced — reaching just about 20 million views. In the video, Blendtec’s CEO Tom Dickson snapped an iPad in half and put it inside Blendtec’s huge “Wildside Jar,” which came out as dark gray powder. Blendtec’s “Will it Blend” series is a popular example of viral marketing (or maybe just viral video in general). This most popular video in the series can be a great source of case study to analyze how some qualities of the original video can be a source of popularity. For example, positive emotions, drama, length, and so on. It might serve as a “cross-reference” to the academic journal articles I chose. 

[Video 1] Will It Blend? - iPad (Blendtec's Will It Blend).

[2] CBS. Eye To Eye: Tom Dickson And His Blender. 2007, https://youtu.be/J5P-TKgzKs4.

This is an interview with Tom Dickson, Blendtec’s CEO, done by a CBS reporter. On the show, they discussed the “behind the scene” stories of the “Will It Blend?” series, including how the “marketing guy” came up with the idea, the targeted quality of these videos, and Dickson’s take on why these videos got so viral. I can cross reference this video with my propositions regarding the previous video source to compare how my ideas differ from the creators. But I may have to keep in mind that this is an old video — it may serve as a source to use historical lenses. 

[Video 2] Eye To Eye: Tom Dickson And His Blender (CBS).

[3] @Coffeezilla. Mr. Beast’s Secret Formula for Going Viral. 2021, https://youtu.be/6pMhBaG81MI.

In the video, the YouTube content creator “Coffeezilla” interviewed the “most viral YouTuber” — Mr. Beast. They discussed “secrets” behind Mr. Beast’s viral videos, including quality over quantity, teamwork, algorithms and human psychology, and so on. Then they analyzed how to keep retention, and Mr. Beast gave some suggestions for new YouTubers. I think this information-rich interview is a great source to get insight from content creators of their “behind the scene” stories of viral videos — rather than observing the videos themselves, this is to switch to the workflow perspective and see what is lying underneath the rather superficial qualities of these videos. 

[Video 3] Mr. Beast’s Secret Formula for Going Viral (@Coffeezilla).

To get more useful primary sources, I am planning to schedule a meeting with a librarian. 

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