How Black Friday Spreads

Want to mobilize a large group of people to take action all at the same time?

Pick a day and name it.

Be specific about the task.

Repeat the day and it becomes a tradition.

Today is Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. “The Day After Thanksgiving” was always a popular shopping day. Then, the day got a name and the name made it easier to talk about.

Year after year the name became more and more popular–easier to spread by word of mouth.

Here is the history of searches for “black...