THE PSYCHOLOGY OF VIRAL CONTENT HOW EMOTIONAL TRIGGERS (AWE, ANGER, NOSTALGIA) DRIVE VIRALITY ON PLATFORMS LIKE TIKTOK, INSTAGRAM, AND YOUTUBE

Emotional triggers that elicit user behavior and sharing on social media platforms like Tik Tok, Instagram, andYouTube are becoming more and more important determinants of how digital content virality on these platformsaffects users. This research looks at the role of certain high-arousal emotions, such as awe, anger, and nostalgiain the dissemination of online content. The paper relies on the existing literature, including empirical studies,theoretical research, and platform-specific studies to point out the interaction of negative resonance and socialsharing mechanisms. Results indicate that content that evokes high levels of emotion is more apt to go viral, whereawe inspires admiration and sharing, anger and discourse and repost and anger inspires active discourse andsharing, and nostalgia develops a personal relationship and return visit. Moreover, features of platforms, includingshort-form video content on Tik Tok and narrative contents on YouTube influence the consumption anddistribution of emotional content. The strategic implications of the paper emphasize the need by marketers, contentcreators and social media strategists to maximize the number of people they reach and engage. Having formed theresults of ten main works, this study adds to a better comprehension of the psychology of viral content and offersthe framework under the influence of emotional stimulation usage on digital marketing campaign success