Consumer behaviour in growth hacking: Developing and validating the shareability construct

Abstract

Stemming from the explosion of companies' social data and digital transformation, growth hacking has emerged as a process of rapid experimentation to achieve sustainable business growth. This paper takes a consumer behaviour approach to explore the organic virality of growth hacking. We examine growth hacking through the lens of Social Identity and Self-Expansion theories, exploring how consumers' drives are determined by social belonging and self-expansion desires. Through a mixed-methods approach, we identify essential dimensions of organic virality resulting from growth hacking tactics, including Shareability, attitude towards the brand, fear of missing out, need for affiliation and willingness to buy/use. It zooms into developing the Shareability construct, uncovering dimensions such as word-of-mouth, referrals, recommendations, sharing attitudes and disinformation. We contribute to growth hacking research by developing and validating the shareability scale as a reliable tool to measure consumers' propensity towards disseminating growth hacking content, providing actionable implications for growth hackers.