Is Viral Content Superman or Iron Man? The factors behind Successful Digital Content

Digital Content Virality (DCV) is vital yet unpredictable in social media marketing, as only a small fraction of digital content goes viral. Prior studies examined content quality, emotions, creator credibility, and electronic word-of-mouth (EWM) separately, limiting understanding of their combined effects. This study analyzes the simultaneous influence of Creator Characteristics (CC), Content Characteristics (CTC), Environment (ENV), Audience Behavior (AB), Interactivity (INT), Engagement (ENG), and EWM on DCV. Data were collected from 533 active Indonesian social media users through an online survey (April–May 2025) and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4. Results show that EWM, CTC, and CC have the strongest effects, while AB, INT, ENG, and ENV also contribute significantly. These findings highlight that virality emerges from both internal content quality and external strategic amplification. The Superman or Iron Man metaphor is thus supported: viral success is shaped by the interplay of intrinsic resonance and engineered dissemination.