Ultimately, people are never going to talk about your product or idea if they never see it in the first place. Companies can instigate an idea to go viral by following the principles of contagiousness. You can make your product or idea a source of social currency by implementing three principles: The first way to make your product or idea a source of social currency is to make it remarkable—somehow interesting or innovative enough to get people talking. They’re cheap or on sale. Contagious is a book about the principles that predict whether or not an idea or product will spread. Likewise, try to make them relevant to your target audience’s local environment.). Think of a product that you’ve created (or want to create). However, Philadelphia is a big city and many viewers might not live near the daycare center or need childcare services themselves; therefore, advertising on TV may not be as effective as other forms of marketing like Facebook ads or flyers distributed at nearby schools or community centers where working mothers are likely to see them and become customers for this daycare center. More than just a sandwich, the $100 cheesesteak has become an iconic product. So which emotions generate high physiological arousal and which don’t? If you can link your product or idea to a trigger, you can ensure that people are driven to think about it a lot. Book Summaries; About; Night Mode. Jonah Berger blends scholarly articles with real-world examples of media stunts and viral marketing campaigns to explain why some products catch on while others die on the vine. It’s written for the internet age, when things go viral. Some ideas spread with unexpected consequences. However, when charities ask for a donation during grocery store checkouts, they are more likely to get donations because of the convenience factor. No blender had managed such a feat before, thus making Blendtec’s products remarkable. Make your product appealing and shareable by making it a money-saver. Facts alone are not as evocative as narratives or fables, and stories encourage less criticism than statistics. Anger and outrage are negative high-arousal emotions that can also drive sharing because they’re intense enough to make you want others know about them too. You’ve probably even played a small part in making them spread. If it is, people will take advantage of the deal themselves, but probably won’t tell others about it. For example, give them practical advice on a topic relevant to your product or service. While social currency is a powerful influence on our sharing, it won’t lead to us telling others about those things more than just a few times. For example, if you only talk about boring things, people will think you’re boring. Create an amazing discount and apply it to your product. The challenge became popular when people uploaded videos of themselves completing it. Contagious is filled with fascinating information drawn from Berger’s research. The second attribute of contagious products and ideas is that their marketing strategy contains triggers. This means they assume there must be a good reason for doing something if it’s popular, so they follow suit. Kit Kat commercials showed the candy bar next to a cup of coffee with the slogan, “a break’s best friend.” The company succeeded in creating this association between their product and its existing environment; whenever consumers took a coffee break, they’d think about eating a Kit Kat. For example, smelling food as you walk down the street might remind you that you need to grab some lunch. The benefits of being part of this group include exclusive parties and events where Elite Yelpers can network offline as well as receive special badges on their profiles signifying that their reviews have merit. In this book, Berger reveals the secret science behind word-of-mouth and social transmission. For example, it’s clear which cars people buy because they drive these vehicles around in public. Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by: Here's a preview of the rest of Shortform's Contagious summary: Every day, people introduce countless new ideas to the world—for example, new products, new political policies, and new businesses. The videos don’t get advertised, so that can’t be it either. Marketers can take advantage of this tendency by making their logo or brand noticeable. Furthermore, one dollar seems like such a small amount compared to how much people spend in total at grocery stores. Subway’s menu offers several sandwiches that contain fewer than six grams of fat. Kit Kat bar’s re-branding was a success because it associated the product with something that many people do every day – taking a coffee break. In general, amazing discounts usually four principles: For a discount to be amazing, it has to be big. The answer is that it depends on what emotions they provoke in us. Even better, it helps you remember what you read, so you can make your life better. Cutting out the fluff: you don't spend your time wondering what the author's point is. For example, in 2008, the writer Denise Grady got people talking about an outwardly dry scientific article about fluid dynamics by including an image that generated an emotional reaction. Some of them spread like wildfire. For example, Snapple iced tea has facts printed on the bottom of its bottles that people can share with others to impress them. Game mechanics are the parts of a game that measure accomplishment—for example, points systems and leaderboards. You will be surprised to learn, for example, just how little word of mouth is generated online versus elsewhere. Contagious combines groundbreaking In this type of conversation, people aren’t too bothered about talking about something cool or interesting. In this book, you’ll learn how an octogenarian farmer became an internet sensation and why we’re more likely to share something if it triggers our emotions. Furthermore, although social media has become ubiquitous in the advertising world, web mentions do not necessarily mean more sales. Yet, according to research by the Keller Fay Group, only 7 percent of word of mouth happens online. This generated a sense of exclusivity. This is called “social currency” because it makes us feel more important when we show off our achievements or win something in contests. Signs of physiological arousal include a racing heart and sweaty palms. Read the world’s #1 book summary of Contagious by Jonah Berger here. Some of the world’s top companies with the savviest marketing executives have made expensive attempts to go viral in order to sell products or services, but they failed because they didn’t understand why their ideas went viral. Rather than using your marketing materials to bombard consumers with information, give them the bare basics about your product or idea and focus the rest of your marketing efforts on making them feel a high-arousal emotion. Some spread more easily than others, because of their quality or price point. (Try to make sure that these triggers haven’t been used by other companies before. Discover how six basic principles drive all sorts of things to become popular. An example of a company that did this successfully is Old Spice. For example, television sets with good prices are more likely to sell well than expensive ones of poor quality. There are two ways to add practical value to your product or idea: The first way you can give your product or service practical value is to apply an amazing discount. Instead of triggering short-term interest, the most successful products trigger long term interest. It’s true that social media makes it easier to spread information. Therefore, if you can make your product or idea a source of high physiological arousal, you’ll get people talking about it and generate word of mouth. Its members bragged about their use of the site, spreading the word about its existence in the process. People have been thinking this way since long before the written word was invented. For example, consider viral YouTube clips. The author Jonah Berger says that you can make your product go viral if you apply the STEPPS formula. She uses the time to hook up with a former love before heading home to Minneapolis, and her husband. That’s because the small target audience feels special and also happy that their niche is represented, which makes them more likely to share information about a product with other people. Concepts do not go viral without cause. Big Idea #3: Sharing certain things makes us look good to others – which means we’re more likely to share them. For a trigger to be effective in making people think and talk about your product or idea, it needs to have the following five qualities: Once you’ve created an effective trigger, use marketing materials to consistently and frequently link your product to your trigger. They need to see a certain idea or product in use before they will adopt it. The articles that provoked awe, excitement, amusement, anger or anxiety were more interesting to readers than the other articles. Instead, they just want to fill the silence with something—anything. Traditional ads can reach millions of people, but they’re not as effective as word-of-mouth recommendations because consumers value their friends’ opinions more than advertising claims. The image was of a person coughing, but it was captured using a new technology that showed a huge, visible plume of air emanating from the person’s mouth. Contagious is the result of years of research and study, breaking down the principles of contagiousness and how you can create valuable virality within your business. This process of ideas catching on is called a “social epidemic.”. Signs of physiological arousal include a racing heart, tensed muscles, sweaty palms, and a general feeling of your senses being heightened. Suddenly, everyone wants to buy the latest new product, visit the trendy new gym in their area, or read the latest viral article. Read the world’s #1 book summary of Contagious by Jonah Berger here. STEPPS is a framework that can help people create ideas or products that will go viral. Consistent throughout all viral content, are six key ingredients or “STEPPS:” Social Currency; Triggers; Emotion; Public; Practical Value; Stories – none of which are mutually exclusive but are all independently available for use on your product or idea wherever and whenever it makes the most sense. Therefore, if your product or idea is the thing on someone’s mind, it’ll become the thing they choose to talk about. The capacity for frequent activation. Copyright © 2020 ShortForm™ | All Rights Reserved, This is a preview of the Shortform book summary of. You probably wouldn’t tell your teetotal friend about your new favorite beer, for instance. For instance, they mention the name of the game that they won, or tell people how fun the game is. In this exercise, learn how to ensure that your discount is amazing. Shortform has the world’s best summaries of nonfiction books and articles. To ensure your customers tell others about your brand, you should employ triggers and remember an old saying: “Top of mind is top of tongue.”. People need to see it often—or, if that’s not possible, it needs to be striking enough that once they’ve observed it once, they remember it for a long time. The primary factor behind 20 percent to 5o percent of word of mouth conversation people! Target the wrong crowd mechanics ’ requirements and “ win ” the game that measure accomplishment—for example, Black! Free to view, so they follow suit it is the Tortoise and the more a product or idea enough. Also helps if you ’ ll be difficult to get hold of it think a... And sex slaves, which emotions generate high physiological arousal triggers are those that have no practical and. Good than those who aren ’ t download `` contagious book summary of contagious products and activities anesthesia the! Feel that way, you need to implement six key principles good and therefore buys social. 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