"Gangnam Style": A Theoretical Overview of Viral Propagation in the Social and Digital Media Age

Viral propagation is a complex phenomenon that invites an integrated explanation that cuts across disciplinary and subdisciplinary boundaries to render a comprehensive understanding. The phenomenon directs our attention to the intersection between the psychological and the sociological, and the convergence of mass, interpersonal and peer communications. Hitherto, a large corpus of empirical work has proffered many determinants and characteristics of viral propagation but the lack of an integrative overview has left us with a fragmented and limited knowledge of the phenomenon. This paper seeks to facilitate further research and theoretical advancement on viral propagation in two ways. First, it organizes the most pertinent theoretical perspectives of the nature and process of viral propagation into four perspectives: epidemiological, emotional, communicational, and cultural. Second, it reflects on viral propagation in the digital age by interrogating the way technology affords the transformation of consumers’ individual actions to collectively meaningful outcomes.