[Summary] Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger — 3 Takeaways, 2 Quotes, 1 Question.
Why are some ideas more popular than others?
Welcome to the fourth of my 3–2–1 book summaries!
For a bit of background on what these are, here’s a link to my first book summary.
Next up in the series…
What makes things popular?
Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger explores the factors that explain why certain ideas or products explode in popularity. Drawing from various case studies and primary research, Berger explains the science behind word-of-mouth and the power of social influence in our decisions ranging from the cars we buy, to the clothes we wear, to the names we give our children. There are six main factors that contribute to virality: Social Currency, Triggers, Emotions, Public, Practical Value, and Stories.
I’ll admit that most of the concepts explored in the book are fairly common sense: we all know that we’re likely to share content that makes us angry or sad, or that we tend to pass on information that we think others will find useful. Yet even though nothing was truly mind blowing, I still found myself enjoying the book for his easy-to-understand writing style and entertaining examples.
If you’re looking for a quick, two- or three-day read, you can’t go wrong with Contagious.
3 Takeaways
#1: We share ideas as a way to express ourselves.
Berger uses the term “social currency” to describe the concept of “buying” positive impressions from family and friends — in other words, people tend to share what makes them “look good”.
While I don’t disagree with this, I think sharing information is also just an avenue for self-expression, and doesn’t necessarily mean that our only motivation is to “look good”. Yes, there are people who love sharing practical information such as the latest promos from RedFlagDeals (which they know their peers would find helpful, and therefore reflect positively on them), but there are also people who share videos advocating for something divisive like universal basic income (which they know that not necessarily everyone will agree with, yet they share anyways).
For an idea to catch on, we need to take the time to identify what value or belief the idea represents, who best aligns with these values, and how likely they are to feel the need to express that to their peers.
#2: Ideas stay alive through triggers in our everyday lives.
While word-of-mouth eventually fades over time, the most contagious ideas tend to be linked to triggers that frequently appear in our daily lives. These can literally be anything, but when we encounter these triggers we immediately recall any previous associations.
A few examples include:
- May the 4th (Star Wars)
- Friday (Rebecca Black)
- Hump Day (Geico)
- Peanut butter (and jelly)
- “Having a break” (Kit Kat)
- “I love you” (3000?)
- Autumn (pumpkin spice latte)
- “Do it” (Nike, Shia LaBeouf, Emperor Palpatine, Rob Schneider… did I miss any?)
The key is that the more frequently the trigger occurs in our day-to-day lives, the more contagious and enduring the idea will be.
#3: Ideas that are built to show are built to grow.
Touching on the principle of “Social Proof” that we covered in Cialdini’s book, people have a tendency to follow what everyone else is doing — but only if they can see that.
The book argues that ideas need to have some strong visual cue in order for people to follow suit — this can take the form of a half-filled tip jar in front of a barista, a bright Apple logo oriented correctly on an open Macbook, a “Sent from my iPhone” at the bottom of an email, or a TikTok logo on the upper left corner of that random video you came across on Instagram.
As Berger puts it, the most contagious ideas create “public signals for private choices, actions, and opinions… taking what was once an unobservable thought or behavior and transforming it into a more observable one”.
2 Quotes
#1:
“All things being equal, you root for your own sex, your own culture, your own locality… Whomever you root for represents you; and when they win, you win.”
#2:
“Rather than just going for a catchy message, consider the context. Think about whether the message will be triggered by the everyday environments of the target audience.”
1 Question
Do all ideas truly have an equal chance of going viral?
Thanks for reading!
P.S. The link above that drives you to the book’s Amazon page is an affiliate link — meaning that, at no additional cost to you, I’ll earn a commission if you click through and decide to purchase.
