ContagiousWhy Things catch On

Jonah Berger

Jonah Berger is a Professor at Wharton Business school.

Why do some products, ideas, behaviors succeed when others fail?One reason is they are functionally better, another reason is attractive pricing, a third reason is advertising and finally is word of mouth

Social Influence and word of mouth are important. People share more than 16,000 words per day and every hour there are 100 million conversations about brands.

Word of Mouth is more effective than traditional advertising because its persuasive and second it is targeted.

Our friends tell it to us straight, their objectivity, candidness makes us more likely to trust, listen and believe our friends.

Research finds that more than 40 % of what people talk about is their personal experiences or personal relationships.

What people talk about also affects what others think of them. Emphasize what’s remarkable about a product or idea and people will talk.

People don’t just care about how they are doing, they care about their performance in relation to others. Status is inherently relational and hence word of mouth and chatter are important.

Scarcity is about how much of something is offered. Exclusivity is about availability in a different way, exclusive things are available to people who meet certain criteria.

Exclusivity isn’t about money or celebrity, its also about knowledge.

Scarcity and exclusivity help products catch on by making them desirable also boosts word of mouth.

People don’t need to be paid to be motivated. Managers often default to monetary incentives when trying to motivate employees.

As soon as you pay people to do something, you crowd out their intrinsic motivation.

Some word of mouth is immediate, some is ongoing. Movies need immediate word of mouth.

Kit Kat increased it sales by associating with coffee and a break.

Susan Boyle, in Britain’s got talent showed strength and heart and that emotion drove people to pass it on.

The most obvious difference between different emotions is their pleasantness or positivity.

Positive articles are more shared than negative articles.

Marketing messages focus on information. That is where emotion comes in. Rather than features or facts, we need to focus on feelings, the feelings that motivate people to action.

Technology has allowed people to quickly converge behind a goal or a common interest.

Emotions drive people to action. They make us laugh, shout and cry. So rather than quoting statistics or providing information, we need to focus on feelings.

Observability. Watching people makes us more likely to do it.People often imitate those around them.

Behavior is public and thoughts are private.

The message at the end of a mail sent from a phone reads sent from a windows phone, from my iPhone etc.These products advertise themselves, every time someone gets this, it transmits social proof and passive approval.

Shapes, sounds and a host of other distinctive characteristics can also help products advertise themselves.

It’s been said that when people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate one another.

In discounts, if a products price is less than $100, then percentage discounts seem larger than absolute drops.

People don’t think in terms of information, they think in terms of narratives. That’s why story telling is crucial.

Narratives are inherently more engrossing than basic facts. They have a beginning, a middle and an end. If people get sucked in the beginning, they will stay till the end.

People are also less likely to argue against stories as opposed to advertising claims.

The media in general and the beauty industry in particular paint a skewed picture of women. Not surprisingly, only 2 pc of women describe themselves as beautiful. More than 66 % of women believe that the media sets an unrealistic expectation on women’s beauty.

Word of mouth is not just talk, more important, what people are talking about.

Social currency We share things that make us look good

Triggers Top of mind, tip of tongue

Emotion When we care, we share

Public Built to show, built to grow

Practical value News you can use

Stories Information travels under the guise of idle chatter

Social currency Does talking about your product make people look good? Does it make them feel like insiders

Triggers What cues make people think about your product or idea?

Emotion Does talking about your product generate an emotion?

Public Does your product advertise itself

Practical value Does talking about your product help people help others. How can you package information to get this going?

Stories What is your Trojan horse/ Is your product embedded in a broader narrative that people want to share?