The strategy of viral marketing gets customers to sell a product to other customers on behalf of the company. That often means convincing your friends to climb on the bandwagon, and sometimes you get a small percentage return (or other reward) if they end up buying something.139 Some might argue that means you’re selling out your friends (or at least selling to your friends) in exchange for a marketing reward.

Others might say you’re just sharing the wealth with those you care about. Have you been involved in viral marketing by passing along names of your friends or sending them to a website such as hotmail.com? If so, what happened? How do you feel about this practice? Discuss the pros and cons of viral marketing.