'Contagious: Why Things Catch On' by Jonah Berger

[Aaron]

Just finished reading the new book by Jonah Berger called Contagious: Why Things Catch On. The book explores social pandemics and brings a scientific approach to understanding why things go viral. It's a fun and interesting read about an intriguing topic. I've written a full executive summary available here: http://newbooksinbrief.com/2013/04/03...

Cheers,
Aaron

[David]

Aaron, the book looks interesting. How different is it from the book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference? Does it have any additional insights that were not discussed by Malcolm Gladwell?

[Aaron]

Quite different actually. Berger challenges one of Gladwell's key points, which is that very influential people are needed to spur social pandemics. Instead, Berger maintains that 6 factors in particular contribute to virality. Here they are (together with their tag lines): 1. Social Currency: “we share things that make us look good” (loc. 2853); 2. Triggers: “Top of mind, tip of tongue” (loc. 2853); 3. Emotion: “When we care, we share” (loc. 2853); 4. Public: “built to show, built to grow” (loc. 2853); 5. Practical Value: “news you can use” (loc. 2853); and 6. Stories: “information travels under the guise of idle chatter” (loc. 2853).

[Elizabeth]

Jonah Berger has a web site and a list serve related to the book. It's on my lengthy to-read list. Thanks for a nice review.