Creating ‘buzz’: opportunities and limitations of social media for arts institutions and their viral marketing

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Abstract
According to empirical studies, two thirds of the people worldwide who surf the Internet use Web 2.0 applications (i.e. social media such as YouTube, Facebook or Twitter). The rate of growth is especially impressive in Germany, where the reluctance to publish personal information has traditionally been greater than in other countries. Accordingly, more and more German cultural suppliers seek to explore the possibilities of Web 2.0 and social media for their marketing objectives. In times of a general information overflow, declining credibility of traditional communication tools and a continued shortage of resources in the cultural sector, the fact that these web‐based applications can facilitate viral marketing and stimulate word‐of‐mouth is of special interest to arts institutions. However, until now, arts marketing has seen hardly any research on this topic. Therefore, the objective of this paper was to analyse the opportunities and limitations of Web 2.0 and social media for the viral marketing of arts institutions, especially with regard to their impact on quality and/or behavioural uncertainty on the part of visitors. The task setting will be carried out under consideration of the economics of information approach and explorative data. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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