From Clicks to Clients: The Influence of Viral Marketing on Zoom Usage in Property Transactions in Indonesia

The COVID-19 pandemic heavily impacted Indonesia's property industry, with technology playing a crucial role in helping the industry navigate through the pandemic. 45% of property agents utilize communication platforms of Zoom to facilitate live private home tours since the pandemic started. This study examines the direct impact of Viral Marketing (VM) on the Decision to Use Zoom (DU) as well as the indirect impact through Perceived Ease of Use (PE) and Perceived Usefulness (PU) within the Indonesian property market. Utilizing the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this study introduces mediating variables PU and PU that have not been examined in prior research while investigating the decision to use Zoom application during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malang, Indonesia. This study is distinct from previous studies that mainly concentrated on financial services, internet banking, and e-commerce, by exploring the utilization of Zoom in property transactions. Data was gathered from property developer consumers in Malang using online questionnaires and analyzed with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The findings revealed that while VM do not directly affect DU, it significantly influenced PE and PU. PU is found to significantly mediate the relationship between VM and DU, whereas PE do not directly impact DU. These results underscore the importance of VM and PU in decision-making regarding Zoom use. For better adoption rates, Zoom should enhance VM strategies and effectively communicate its benefit.