Articles that mainly provoked sadness were not shared widely. Emotion. Triggers do. What is then the secret to make our messages contagious? Did the words “yellow wristband” automatically trigger the brand “LiveStrong” for you? Exclusive things are accessible only to people who meet particular criteria.”. “The key, then, is to not only make something viral, but also make it valuable to the sponsoring company or organization. Owen Exec. The ads basically said that drugs are bad but also, crucially, that other people are doing it. Jonah Berger presents a very few interesting cases on how what’s public influences us even when in private most people would think otherwise. People rarely go to Disney World and few things remind them of it. Introduction: Why Things Catch On. A lesson or moral. Contagious: Why Things Catch On examines why certain media goes viral—videos, articles, memes—and others never get shared at all. Cheerios are seen often at the supermarket and breakfast every day remind people of Cheerios. Game Mechanics help create social currency because it can give a positive impression to others in our group whose opinions we value. Each time you do this, note your answer, and you’ll notice that you drill down further and further toward uncovering not only the core of an idea, but the emotion behind it.”, So when you are deciding how to market things, select high arousal emotions because “simply adding more arousal to a story or ad can have a big impact on people’s willingness to share it.”, He ends this chapter talking about the concept of over-sharing. They evaluate them relative to a comparison standard, or ‘reference point’.”(163). “Just like many other animals, people care about hierarchy,” aka we are prone to status displays. Humans like to share things — it is one of the main reasons social media is so popular. So if we are on a plane with turbulences, we might tell the person sitting next to us more than we would normally like. How viral happens. I suggest reading the book to get the full understanding of behavioral residue. Reading over some uncharitable reviews on Amazon, I saw that some felt Berger’s observations were “obvious,” and “common sense.”I disagree.Deep truths can seem obvious when someone smart simplifies them for us, but the process of actually identifying them is not a trivial one. What Jonah found was that the most viral articles usually included high arousal emotions. He introduces the STEPPS formula that will help you to reach your sales goals and create a must-have product. Top of mind means tip of tongue.”, He says, “one key factor is how frequently the stimuli occurs” and that “linking a product or idea with a stimulus that is already associated with many things isn’t as effective as forging a fresher, more original link.”, “It is also important to pick triggers that happen near where the desired behavior is taking place” and to “think about the environments of the people a message or idea is trying to trigger.”. What do hot dogs tend to make you think about if you’re an American? Advertising also helps, Jonah Berger says that word of mouth is more effective than advertising because it’s more persuasive and more targeted. As he puts it the principles of contagiousness are “products or ideas that contain Social Currency and are Triggered, Emotional, Public, Practically Valuable, and wrapped in Stories.”. In fact, “sadness articles were actually 16 percent less likely to make the Most E-Mailed list.”, Jonah Berger suggests to marketers that “rather than harping on features or facts, we need to focus on feelings; the underlying emotions that motivate people to action.”, The way he suggests marketers go about this is by mentioning advice from the book Made To Stick by Chip and Dan Heath, which says “talk about using the ‘Three Whys’ to find the emotional core of an idea. People love things that are practical. They were one of the first in the know, and now they’re sharing it with you. “People don’t think in terms of information. Game mechanics are levels and badges that make us want more. Summary of Contagious: Why Things Catch On By Jonah Berger 1-Page Summary The book starts by laying out what the author believes are the Six Principles of Contagiousness called STEPPS: social currency, triggers, emotion, public, practical value, and stories. Now I don’t suggest doing that, but people may do that to you, so be wary of yourself if you are entering into a potential high arousal state. "Going viral" is, at its heart, people telling their friends about something interesting, useful, funny, or just plain cool. Judgments and decisions are not always rational or optimal. Jobs realized that seeing others do something makes people more likely to do it themselves.” He wanted an observer to see the Apple logo the right way, making it more enticing for them to want to buy it. The author says it’s because of triggers. Contagious: Why Things Catch On [Speed Summary] Ever since Gladwell’s Tipping Point, the business press has been adding flesh to the bare bones theory that what make’s a product or idea ‘go viral’ is 1) The Law of the Few (seed with influencers), 2) The Stickiness Factor (play to psychological biases), and 3) The Power of Context (shape to fits the context of adoption and use)…. There are two types of emotions that lead people to sharing (or not sharing): Emotions that make us share are arousing emotions like anger, awe, anxiety or excitement. Jonah Berger says that we don’t think in terms of information, but in terms of narrative. Well, I've been reading the book Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger, and it outlines 6 factors that makes things go viral. The case study is about how a popular yellow wristband came about. We share our likes, opinions, and more, letting other people know who we are. He states that one of the reasons people over-share is that “if situational factors end up making us physiologically aroused, we may end up sharing more than we planned.”, So if you need to learn certain information from someone, but you know it may be difficult to get out, you could bring them to a place where they will be physiologically aroused. Thus a key factor in driving products to catch on is public visibility.”. “Build a social currency-laden, triggered, emotional, public, practically valuable Trojan Horse, but don’t forget to hide your message inside. People often imitate those around them.” This concept of doing things strangers do, or what are friends do is often referred to as ‘social proof.’ You’ve probably seen this in action, such as when a crowd of people are looking at something, you start looking too, wondering what is going on. Just as perceptual processes influence whether we see a particular sweater as red or view an object on the horizon as far away, they also influence whether a price seems high or a deal seems good.” (163), “One of the main tenets of prospect theory is that people don’t evaluate things in absolute terms. “Contagious” is easy to read, insightful and highly applicable. He goes into several case studies of how marketers were able to link up certain triggers with certain brands causing sales to rise because people would buy them more oftenbecause they were be triggered to do so whether they were aware of it or not. Jonah Berger goes after the idea that you have to hit the opinion leaders to make your message spread. ). Sadness and contentment decrease arousal, slow us down and make us relax, leading us to share less. He did it by using great ingredients and asking for an exorbitant price: a hundred dollars. He says that, “Sights, smells, and sounds can trigger related thoughts and ideas, making them more top of mind…Why does it matter if particular thoughts or ideas are top of mind? This is important for word-of-mouth growth because when people share their achievements, they also “talk about the brands or domains where they achieved” them. That of activation, or physiological arousal.”, And as a side note, though you probably know what arousal is, but just in case, “arousal is a state of activation and readiness for action.”. Somewhat counter intuitively, making promotions more restrictive can make them more effective.” I believe this makes logical sense. Principle 4: Public ideas, products or social things make them much easier to share and imitate. Because accessible thoughts and ideas lead to action.”, He continues on with multiple stories about this effect in action. Berger says that it works internally as we all love achievement, but also because we want to do better than others. People talk about more cheerios than Disney World. Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger's new book, Contagious: Why Things Catch On, distills six principles that cause people to talk about … Promotional offers that seem surprising or surpass expectations are more likely to be shared. In ‘Contagious – Why Things Catch On,’ Professor Jonah Berger explains why some topics catch fire and get shared around the world, while other issues or pieces of communication get ignored. Jonah Berger is a marketing professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and internationally bestselling author of Contagious, Invisible Influence, and The Catalyst.He’s a world-renowned expert on social influence, word of mouth, and why products, ideas, and behaviors catch on and has published over 50 papers in top-tier academic journals. “Kahneman received the Nobel Prize for his work with Amos Tversky on what they called ‘prospect theory.’ The theory is amazingly rich, but at its core, it’s based on a very basic idea. Of course, as the author himself says, “Contagious” is not a recipe which you can apply and be guaranteed of success. CHAPTER 1. Why is it that some new products and ideas gain widespread popularity while others fail to “catch on”? Jonah suggests brands use scarcity and exclusivity to make customers feel like insiders. Readers might suppose that Jonah Berger’s new book, “Contagious: Why Things Catch On,” would shed light on these famous cases of viral content. The example of the anti drug “say no” campaign was also extremely interesting. Once again, I suggest you read the book so you can understand the studies and stories he uses to back up these points and to understand them more in depth. But if the tip jar is already brimming with money, they assume that everyone must be tipping, and thus they should tip as well.”, The observability of a product “has a huge impact on whether products and ideas catch on.”, An example he provides of this is, “The Movember Foundation succeeded because they figured out how to make the private public. Just remember, one of the ways to help make a product or idea contagious is to somehow make it publically observable. Contagious Book Summary & Review in PDF The Power Moves - Jonah Berger is a marketing professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller Contagious: Why Things Catch On. Information or a take home message.”, Most people are very skeptical of traditional advertising these days and of people trying to persuade them to do things. Jonah Berger beings by saying that one of the elements of virality is simply having a great product. A Summary of ‘Contagious: Why Things Catch On’ by Jonah Berger a. Contagious: Why Things Catch On - Ebook written by Jonah Berger. Contagious content, like a good joke, is inherently viral because it spreads regardless of who is doing the talking Social currency – people share things that make them look good to others People don’t just care how they’re doing, they care about their performance in relation to other Dr. Berger has spent over 15 years studying how social influence works and how it drives products and ideas to catch … According to the book, “The reason? Game mechanics “motivate us on an interpersonal level by encouraging social comparison.” People like to compare how they do compared to others, especially if it is a comparison against their friends. You’ll be fighting to keep us as consumers demand more and more. Jonah Berger says blending your advertising into a story is equivalent to building a Trojan Horse. The articles that were shared the most in his analysis of the NY Times Most Emailed list were articles that provoked awe, excitement, amusement, anger, or anxiety. It makes a great pair with a few more books on marketing and influencing such as “Make to Stick“, “The Tipping Point“, “Triggers“, “Brandwashed” and “Influence“, the big classic by Cialdini. Owen Exec. If You Want Your Message to Spread, You Need to Get People Talking, and Imitating b. He wrote, “triggers not only get people talking, they keep them talking. It’s important that the story is relevant to the product, or the product has to be a key part of the story. Jonah Berger says we share useful information because we want to help and if we can help it reflects well on us. There is also an argument by psychologists “that emotions can also be classified based on a second dimension. Sexual Market Value: A Practical Analysis... Virality is not the product of pure chance, You can increase the odds of going viral by incorporating some of the 6 principles. I can't speak for anyone else and I strongly recommend you to read the book in order to fully grasp the concepts written here. TRIGGERS. How’s that possible with all the … Similarly, when a presentation has finished and the presenter asks if there are any questions nobody asks anything, because while nobody else has probably understood, the public and visible tell us that we are probably the only ones who didn’t get it. Well, if they are marketing effectively, they are using the rule of 100. I think this is a fascinating thing to consider from both the viewpoint of a purchaser and a seller. Very interestingly, Jonah Berger says that when we are in aroused states we tend to share more than we’d normally want. One of the ways brands use these two concepts is by doing things like including the words ‘limited availability,’ which “makes us feel like we have to act now.” So if you notice a product being sold using those words, realize that they are trying to make the product more desirable by making it appear as if it is scarce (it may not actually be), thus making it more likely you will buy it. Check out the video and audio summary on StoryShots. One of the prime purposes of why we share, whether you are aware of it or not, is that it helps us look good in the eyes of others. For example, many college students don’t enjoy drinking, but drink anyway because externally everybody is drinking and all others whom don’t enjoy drinking are actually keeping it private. It isn’t the only reason we share though. This can be because the actual deal itself exceeds expectations (for example, the percentage off is so unbelievable) or because the way the deal is framed makes it seem that way.”. There may not actually be a sale at all, but “setting a higher reference point made the first deal seem better even though the price was higher overall.”, So you are aware of the power of the word ‘sale,’ in a study, using the word ‘sale’ by an item when the price didn’t change at all increased sales by more than 50 percent. They must not be deployed in a certain fashion, and they are not even all needed at the same time. How’s that possible with all the excitement and uniqueness that Disney World commands? Icons can be used, or badges (fourth square). From consumer products and policy initiatives to B2B services and ideas and initiatives within organizations. By looking at popular culture, Wharton professor Jonah Berger analyzes what makes an idea take off. Jobs realized that seeing others do something makes people more likely to … Berger explains that “regardless of how plain or boring a product or idea may seem, there are ways to make it contagious…” if you know the right way to do it. Jonah’s example for this is airline mile programs. Making people feel like insiders work because If something is supposed to be secret or limited access people love to share it. Hotmail for example, put in the signature the link to sign up for the free service (it was the first free service). The benefit of a product that can be seen in the public eye is that “every time people use the product or service, they also transmit social proof or passive approval because usage is observable.” Its usage by others thus helps advertise it to others. Aka if you are use to seeing an item at $1, then seeing it at $4 will seem insane even if that may be the norm in that place. I’m afraid that virality is, in good part, the product of pure randomness. According to Jonah, “leveraging game mechanics requires quantifying performance… Metrics need to be created or recorded that let people see where they stand.”, The great thing is that you can gamify things you wouldn’t think are a game. … People like to share awesome things, so if your marketing can get across that the product is remarkable, then it will help its word of mouth build. People shared the video of a blender smashing marbles because it was interesting and unexpected. Then ask “Why is this important?” three times. Public. Built to show, built to grow. The author says that focusing on feelings is likely to increase sharing and even seemingly dull products can find a way (example of Google search with the story of a couple told through their search queries). Make the customer try to achieve something or accrue some kind of currency, such as Regal crown club points that make a person more likely to visit a Regal theater again rather than a competitor because they want to accrue more points. Overall, “Contagious” is a great overview of the primary features that drive things to spread in a viral way. Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger Summary This book is perfect for anyone who wants to learn more about how to spread ideas, increase brand awareness, or grow their customer base. If possible, marketers should implement game mechanics into their marketing and product plan.