NORMAL LIFE: Master's Assignment Submission

Boy, was I glad to finally offload my completed master's assignment just now! I have just spend two months studying 'the claims made for both Word of Mouth and Viral Marketing', arguing whether or not it is 'simply word of mouth on a digital platform' (Hanson, 2002). At the end of my 5,000 word essay, I concluded that:

'VM shares many of WOM's attributes. However, WOM is a voluntary action among consumers whereas VM is an intentional message or campaign that originates from within an organisation with the intention of encouraging WOM external to the organisation sending the message. Therefore, I perceive Viral Marketing itself to be purely a tool that encourages WOM and is therefore not simply word of mouth via a digital platform. With computer technology the way it is, 'viral marketing now has it's place firmly set within the marketing mix and ... is an essential part of the 21st Century communication mix.' (Perry & Whitaker, 2002). And with no common definitions for either WOM and VM, it doesn't really matter what we call it. After all, the future of marketing success lies between knowledgeable, yet sceptical, consumers with marketers simply planting the 'seed' in the right place at the right time'.

Now, does that sound credible or not?! I have kind of surpassed myself, but I couldn't have done it without the input of one girl from my class - she's objective like you wouldn't believe, but she's witty and great company. We've been in constant contact since we started the Master's and I couldn't have got this far without her guidance! Thanks, Red! The assignment was a good exercise and was what actually encouraged me to set up this blog. It was also a good exercise for the upcoming dissertation where we have to write 20,000 words, 10,000 of which is a summary of reviewed literature. I've got some ideas already, but let's see how the results for the assignment are...