Review article
MEMES AS A LINGUISTIC PHENOMENON USED IN MARKETING ON SOCIAL NETWORKS AND THEIR IMPACT ON TRENDS IN FINANCIAL MARKETS
Branimir Kurmaić
; Veleučilište “Lavoslav Ružička” u Vukovaru, Županijska 50, 32000 Vukovar, Hrvatska
Borislav Marušić
orcid.org/0009-0008-3048-5009
; Veleučilište “Lavoslav Ružička” u Vukovaru, Županijska 50, 32000 Vukovar, Hrvatska
Abstract
Memes, an Internet-based phenomenon consisting of pieces of user-generated content in the form of pictures, GIFs, or videos, are no longer a marginal occurrence in the wider societal discourse. What was once considered only a “funny picture” forwarded by e-mail to colleagues and friends has in the past decade become an ever widening and growing linguistic phenomenon in its own right with such influence on societal narratives that it warranted serious scientific research. Numerous scientific papers have been written in the past 15 years documenting the rise of internet memes as a novel form of communication that arose in the age of the Internet. It is no accident that the rise of memes coincided with the rise in the use of smartphones and the constant rise in the number of people that use the Internet on a daily basis. In this paper we have decided to focus on one specific aspect of the use of memes that rose in prominence since 2020 and culminated in early 2021 with the events surrounding the Wall Street Bets phenomenon that captured the attention of the world; the use of memes for Internet marketing and their impact on trends in financial markets. Due to the extreme financial and monetary measures enacted by most governments to combat the economic impact of lockdowns and the rise in commission-free stock trading platforms such as Robin Hood, the number of financially uneducated retail investors suddenly grew to such heights that they were together able to, with the power of memes, cause tectonic shifts and panic in financial markets. In this paper we outline memes as a linguistic phenomenon, their extensive use in marketing on the Internet, and, most importantly, their impact on the world of finance through the example of the Wall Street Bets phenomenon. While it may seem like a short-lived episode providing retail traders their 15 minutes of fame, we propose that the Wall Street Bets phenomenon proved the viability of the concept of viral meme marketing campaigns in the context of setting trends in financial markets and that it is only the first such case we have seen, even if the subsequent occurrences arise in a less spontaneous manner, perhaps even because of it.
Keywords
financial markets; Wall Street Bets; marketing; memes; WBS; cryptocurrency
Hrčak ID:
295891
URI
Publication date:
17.3.2023.
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