Contagious
Contagious: How to Build Word of Mouth in the Digital Age by Jonah Berger
🚀 The Book in 3 Sentences
Virility is not based on certain key individuals spreading the message.
It is down to the content itself. There are 6 key principles to follow to create content that is contagious.
Word of mouth advertising is so powerful and even the most seemingly mundane ideas/products can become viral sensations.
🎨 Impressions
This book provides cutting-edge science about how word of mouth and social transmission work. And how you can leverage them to make your products and ideas succeed.
How I Discovered It
This book was recommended to me by my good friend Nathan Bickerton that came up in discussion around key books in the marketing space.
Who Should Read It?
If you are creating content online, are studying or working in the marketing or creative industry this book is a must. If you've always wondered what makes an idea viral, the stories and case studies used will be insightful.
✍️ My Top 3 Quotes
Virality isn’t born, it’s made.
When we care, we share.
Contagious content is like that—so inherently viral that it spreads regardless of who is doing the talking.
📒 Summary + Notes
Why do some products, ideas and behaviors succeed when others fail?
Principle 1: Social Currency
If something is supposed to be secret, people are more likely to talk about it.
What others talk about affects what others think of them. Telling a funny joke at a party makes people think we're witty. Knowing all the info about last night’s big game or celebrity dance-off makes us seem cool or in the know.
So people prefer sharing things that make them seem entertaining rather than boring, clever rather than stupid, hip rather than dull.
3 tricks:
1. Find inner remark-ability
Eg unusual, extraordinary, worthy of notice or attention. Something novel, surprising or extreme.
As long as it's worthy of remark.
You can generate surprise by breaking the pattern people have come to expect.
Mysteries and controversy.
2. Leverage game mechanics
This is essentially focusing on leveraging rules and feedback loops that make them fun and compelling. This keeps people engaged, motivated and wanting more.
People don't care about how they are doing, they care about their performance relative to others. Getting to board a plane a few minutes early is a nice perk - but what really makes it a nice perk is getting board before everyone else. People care about hierarchy.
Game mechanics help generate social currency by making us look good. People love boasting about their accomplishments: golf handicap, Twitter followers and SAT scores.
3. Make people feel like insiders
Use scarcity and exclusivity to make people feel like their insiders. It helps make the idea more desirable. If something is difficult to obtain people assume that it must be worth the effort.
It's about knowledge - knowing certain information or being connected to people who do.
People share things that make them look good to others.
Principle 2: Triggers
Sights, smells, sounds trigger related thoughts and ideas making them top of mind.
When NASA sent space equipment to Mars, the chocolate bars sales also increased as the media attention the mission received reminded people about the chocolate bar.
Sometimes our goal isn't to prove we are interesting, funny or intelligent. It is just to keep the conversation moving. Whatever is top of mind is usually a good place to start. So if it's accessible then it's usually relevant to the situation.
We talk about topics that are going on in the surrounding environment.
Even negative attention can be useful if it makes products and ideas top of mind.
Triggers and cues lead people to talk, choose and use. Social currency gets people talking but triggers keep them talking. Top of mind is top of tongue.
Principle 3: Emotion
Sharing emotions helps us connect.
Emotion is not about positive or negative. There is a second dimension to classify them. Based on activation or physical arousal.
Arousal is a state of activation and readiness for action. The heart beast faster. Blood pressure rises.
Emotions like anger and anxiety are high arousal. When we're angry we yell at customer service representatives. When anxious we check and re-check things. Excitement leads us to want to do something. When inspired by awe we rush to tell people.
This is compared to sadness eg a tough breakup where we curl on the sofa and eat ice cream. Contentment also deactivates.
Rather than sharing facts or features, we need to focus on the feelings. The underlying emotions that motivate people to action.
Principle 4: Public
People imitate those around them. They dress in the same style as friends. Pick meals preferred by other diners. People are more likely to vote if their spouse does. More likely to quit smoking if their friend does.
Public visibility boosts word of mouth. The easier something is to see, the more people talk about it.
Observability spurs purchase and action. The more public a product or service the more it triggers people to take action.
Shapes, sound and other distinctive characteristics can also help products advertise themselves. Pringles come in a unique tube. Computers using Microsoft make a unique sound when they boot up.
Also, tailors give away suit bags imprinted with their name. Nightclubs use sparklers to broadcast when someone pays for bottle service.
Behavior residue is the physical traces or remnants that most actions or behaviors leave in their wake.
Principle 5: Practical Value
This is mostly about the information receiver. About saving time or money or helping them have good experiences. Also, helping others feels good.
Deals seem more appealing when they highlight incredible value. A deal needs to cut through the clutter to get shared.
Useful information helps people do things they want to, encouraging them to do things they should do. Faster, better and easier.
Principle 6: Stories
By encasing the less in a story it meant that early writers could ensure it would be passed along and believed compared to passing lessons that were spoken plainly. People don't think in terms of information, they think in terms of narratives. But while people focus on the story itself, information comes along for the ride.
Stories save time and hassle and give people the information they need in a way that is easy to remember.
Stories give people an easy way to talk about products and ideas. They provide a sort of psychological cover that allows people to talk about a product or idea without seeming like an advertisement.
But make sure that the brand or product benefit is integral to the story itself. When it is so woven into the narrative of the story that the story can't be told without mentioning it.
