Contagious: Why Things Catch On

by Jonah Berger

The same research tools used in biology and chemistry could be used to understand social influence and interpersonal communication.

they make the teller look cool for passing them on.

So to get people talking we need to craft messages that help them achieve these desired impressions. We need to find our inner remarkability and make people feel like insiders. We need to leverage game mechanics to give people ways to achieve and provide visible symbols of status that they can show to others.

People often talk about whatever comes to mind, so the more often people think about a product or idea, the more it will be talked about.

Top of mind leads to tip of tongue.

When we care, we share.

Emotional things often get shared. So rather than harping on function, we need to focus on feelings.

Making things more observable makes them easier to imitate, which makes them more likely to become popular.

We need to design products and initiatives that advertise themselves and create behavioral residue that sticks around even after people have bought the product or espoused the idea.

People like to help others, so if we can show them how our products or ideas will save time, improve health, or save money, they’ll spread the word.

People don’t just share information, they tell stories.

Talking and sharing are some of our most fundamental behaviors. These actions connect us, shape us, and make us human.

The concept needed be something more remarkable. Something that would get people talking and draw them in.

“The most powerful marketing is personal recommendation,”

“Nothing is more viral or infectious than one of your friends going to a place and giving it his full recommendation.”

In case it’s not already clear, here’s a little secret about secrets: they tend not to stay secret very long.

As it turns out, if something is supposed to be secret, people might well be more likely to talk about it. The reason? Social currency.

People share things that make them look good to others.

This desire to share our thoughts, opinions, and experiences is one reason social media and online social networks have become so popular.

As many observers have commented, today’s social-network-addicted people can’t seem to stop sharing—what they think, like, and want—with everyone, all the time.

sharing personal opinions activated the same brain circuits that respond to rewards like food and money.

Compared with doing nothing for five seconds, people valued sharing their opinion at just under a cent.

We make educated guesses about other people based on the cars they drive, the clothes they wear, and the music they listen to.

people prefer sharing things that make them seem entertaining rather than boring, clever rather than dumb, and hip rather than dull.

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.

Give people a way to make themselves look good while promoting their products and ideas along the way. There are three ways to do that: (1) find inner remarkability; (2) leverage game mechanics; and (3) make people feel like insiders.

These facts are so surprising and entertaining that it’s hard not to want to share them with someone else.

But people share these and similar Snapple facts because they are remarkable. And talking about remarkable things provides social currency.

Something can be remarkable because it is novel, surprising, extreme, or just plain interesting. But the most important aspect of remarkable things is that they are worthy of remark. Worthy of mention.

Remarkable things provide social currency because they make the people who talk about them seem, well, more remarkable.

The desire for social approval is a fundamental human motivation.

Remarkability also shapes how stories evolve over time.

Often we’re not even trying to exaggerate; we just can’t recall all the details of the story. Our memories aren’t perfect records of what happened.

The key to finding inner remarkability is to think about what makes something interesting, surprising, or novel.

One way to generate surprise is by breaking a pattern people have come to expect.

But it’s possible to find the inner remarkability in any product or idea by thinking about what makes that thing stand out.

So if they’re not actually using them, why are people so passionate about racking up miles? Because it’s a fun game.

Good game mechanics keep people engaged, motivated, and always wanting more.

People don’t just care about how they are doing, they care about their performance in relation to others.

People love boasting about the things they’ve accomplished:

After all, what good is status if no one else knows you have it?

Metrics need to be created or recorded that let people see where they stand—for

someone can talk about how well she did, but it’s even better if there is a tangible, visible symbol that she can display to others.

Recipients of awards love boasting about them—it gives them the opportunity to tell others how great they are. But along the way they have to mention who gave them the award.

Both used scarcity and exclusivity to make customers feel like insiders.

Scarce things are less available because of high demand, limited production, or restrictions on the time or place you can acquire them.

Exclusivity is also about availability, but in a different way. Exclusive things are accessible only to people who meet particular criteria.

But exclusivity isn’t just about money or celebrity. It’s also about knowledge. Knowing certain information or being connected to people who do.

Scarcity and exclusivity help products catch on by making them seem more desirable.

This limited availability makes us feel like we have to act now. If we don’t we might miss the opportunity even if we might not have otherwise wanted the opportunity in the first place.