Contagious: Why Things Catch on

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Contagious provides specific, actionable techniques for helping information spread—for designing messages, advertisements, and content that people will share. Whether you’re a manager at a big company, a small business owner trying to boost awareness, a politician running for office, or a health official trying to get the word out, Contagious will show you how to make your product or idea catch on.Review Berger provides the following example to illustrate this rule: Say you see someone you know and respect using an Apple Computer at a cafe (identified by the Apple logo and exterior casing), this form of public visibility might mean that you are likely to want to imitate their behavior and buy a Mac because it looks cool or because you want to emulate their behavior. When it comes to social currency, this refers to how good or important something makes us look for sharing it. We want to look bright, funny, entertaining, knowledgeable, prestigious etc. in the eyes of others; and therefore, we are more likely to mention those things that make us appear so. Certain talking points are naturally more interesting than others, just as certain characteristics are naturally more noteworthy; however, ideas, products and behaviors can all be presented or manipulated in certain ways to allow them to partake more of each (for example, a blender may not appear so interesting, but highlighting just how powerful it is by way of having it mash-up an iPod can make it appear a whole lot more interesting—and hence more worthy of sharing).

We’ve collaborated with the world’s leading academics, dug deep into our unique data set and carried out our own research into why some videos get shared in their millions while others are a flop. The book is designed with two (overlapping) audiences in mind. You may have always wondered why people gossip, why online content goes viral, why rumors spread, or why everyone always seems to talk about certain topics around the water cooler. Talking and sharing are some of our most fundamental behaviors. These actions connect us, shape us, and make us human. This book sheds light on the underlying psychological and sociological processes behind the science of social transmission. People didn’t just try the sandwich, they rushed to tell others. One person suggested that groups get it “as a starter . . . that way you all get the absurd story-telling rights.” Another noted that the sandwich was “honestly indescribable. One does not throw all these fine ingredients together and get anything subpar. It was like eating gold.” And given the sandwich’s price, it was almost as expensive as eating gold, albeit far more delicious. For example, in 1997, The Mars Candy Company noticed a spike in their Mars candy bar sales. They had not changed their marketing campaigns, yet sales were up. It turned out that during that same period, NASA was organizing a mission to Mars to collect samples and data from the planet – and with the continuous news cycle featuring NASAs and the planet Mars (the candy/company is named after the founder, not the planet), the news triggered the idea of the candy in people’s minds, and sure enough sales spiked.If discussing something makes you look interesting or cool or special, then that something provides you with "Social currency'. When it comes to triggers, this refers to stimuli in the environment that are associated with other phenomena, and that remind us of them. For example, peanut butter is highly associated with jelly, and so the mention of the former often ‘triggers’ the thought of the latter. Ideas, products and behaviors that are naturally associated with triggers that we encounter more often are more likely to be brought to mind than others, thus increasing the chances that they will be both talked about and influence our behavior, and hence spread. Natural associations often work best; however, associations between unrelated items can also be established through clever advertising campaigns (such as the Kit-Kat bar being associated with a coffee break).

Author Jonah Berger is a marketing professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.Dr. Berger has spent over 15 years studying how social influence works and how it drives products and ideas to catch on. He’s published dozens of articles in top-tier academic journals, consulted for a variety of Fortune 500 companies, and popular outlets like the New York Times and Harvard Business Review often cover his work.the SSTEPS model:Social Currency; triggers; emotions; public; practical values; stories. Is very practical, and has small utility for those NOT in PR firms, biz people etc. That said it's always interesting why one product is well received over another, and what standards (cost, especially) are determined by way of a very simple and predictable (now that I read the book) process. The use of well known products are utilized to further help the reader understand the books content.

Great marketing book and a good way to see why some of the dollars you spend are not working. It's interesting to take the 6 factors discussed and review them against your corporate advertising. Does your company have any ideas that fit those factors that would make them great items to share and if not, how can you start too.While social currency gets people to talk about things, “triggers” keep ideas and products fresh in the minds of consumers, ensuring that they keep talking about your idea. If you have whooping cough, you're contagious from about 6 days after the start of cold-like symptoms to 3 weeks after the coughing starts. Leverage game mechanics” – use elements of a game to make something fun, interesting, and hook the consumer. “Good game mechanics keep people engaged, motivated, and always wanting more.” i.e. hotel and airline rewards programs… people will go out of their way to achieve status and to fly with their preferred airline (even if it means making multiple layovers), moreover they love telling others that they are a Diamond Medallion member with Delta and what their experience is as a Medallion member. Lastly, if a memorable story can be spun around it, then it has the added benefit of having a 'Story'.

Virality is most valuable when the brand or product benefit is integral to the story. When it’s woven so deeply into the narrative that people can’t tell the story without mentioning it. Contagious – Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger (Professor of Marketing at The Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania) distills years of research into understanding why certain ads, products, YouTube videos, political movements, songs, and/or restaurants catch on, while others are ignored. In an analysis of thousands of New York Times articles to better understand why certain pieces of online content are widely shared, Berger found that positive articles were more likely to be highly shared than negative ones.It's also research based, so that is a strength of the book. Chapter notes (at the end of the book) are similar to any sort of journal/text book that you may be used to. It breaks the chapters into sections, and allows one to further his or her reading. For this reason, it may be particularly useful in an education setting. What keeps people talking, says Berger, are triggers—little environmental reminders for related concepts and ideas. Why? Because accessible thoughts and ideas lead to action. Berger ever found that different locations contain different triggers. In one study, voters were more likely to vote in favor of school funding when the polling place was a school. Remarkable things are defined as unusual, extraordinary, or worthy of notice or attention. Something can be remarkable because it is novel, surprising, extreme, or just plain interesting. The most important aspect of remarkable things, though, is that they are worthy of remark. … Remarkable things provide social currency because they make the people who talk about them seem, well, more remarkable … Sharing extraordinary, novel, or entertaining stories or ads makes people seem more extraordinary, novel, and entertaining. After analyzing hundreds of contagious messages, products, and ideas, Jonah Berger noticed that the same six “ingredients,” or principles, were often at work: