Contagious: Why Things Catch on

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Information travels under what seems like idle chatter. Stories are vessels – so build a Trojan Horse. Create a narrative or story that people want to tell which carries your idea along for the ride. One of the main tenets of prospect theory is that people don’t evaluate things in absolute terms. They evaluate them relative to a comparison standard, or “reference point.” PDF / EPUB File Name: Contagious_Why_Things_Catch_On_-_Jonah_Berger.pdf, Contagious_Why_Things_Catch_On_-_Jonah_Berger.epub Berger also discovered that people were more likely to share articles that evoked anger or anxiety. Why? Because anger and anxiety are high-arousal emotions. People do what they can see – “monkey see, monkey do”. So, they make choices based on what they see. People binge drink in college, because they see their peers doing the same. Observability plays a huge role in what products or ideas catch on.

Unsurprisingly, it’s a matter of being contagious. So, what makes a video contagious? Jonah Berger has broken down some factors that make up the core of what makes a video go viral, which I’ll review below in the Contagious book summary. Contagious Book Summary Key Points

Of the six principles of contagiousness that Berger discusses in the book, Practical Value may be the easiest to apply. 6. Stories 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

News you can use. Useful things get shared. So highlight incredible value and expertise so that people can easily pass it on. 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.Great marketers know that the best marketing is conversational. Trying to “spread the word” about a product, service, or idea helps create a trigger that serves as an everyday reminder. For decades, a magazine subscription label was one of the biggest triggers in consumers’ minds. People like helping and feeling useful to others. Practical value is all about sharing useful information that will help others save time, energy and resources. When there is is a product, services, cause or article that provides practical applicability for someone you know, you will likely share with them. Moreover, products and ideas with practical value is passed along to help others despite geographic distances. That’s why parents often send useful articles, coupons, as well as cooking & cleaning advice to their kids – it strengthens social bonds, even when distance makes things difficult. Just as people use money to buy products or services, they use social currency to achieve desired positive impressions among their families, friends, and colleagues. The whooping cough vaccine protects babies and children from getting whooping cough. That's why it's important to have all the routine NHS vaccinations. 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.

People like to pass along practical, useful information. News others can use. Offering practical value not only helps make things contagious, but it also strengthens social bonds.When it comes to stories, this refers to the fact that people tend to enjoy telling and hearing stories. Therefore, ideas, products and behaviors that are wrapped in narratives (and especially compelling narratives) are more likely to be shared than those that are just presented as information. Google’s ‘Parisian Love’ commercial, The Dove ‘Evolution’ commercial, and Panda’s ‘Never say no to Panda’ campaign are all good examples of products being wrapped in compelling narratives.