Contagious: How to Build Word of Mouth in the Digital Age
- Downloads：4370
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-06-03 08:54:49
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Jonah Berger
- ISBN：1471111709
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Why are some products and ideas talked about more than others？ Why do some articles make the most emailed list？ Why do some YouTube videos go viral？ Word-of-mouth。 Whether through face-to-face conversations， emails from friends， or online product reviews， the information and opinions we get from others have a strong impact on our own behaviour。 This book will show you how to make products， ideas and behaviours really catch on。
Reviews
Steph Fernandes
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V interesting and easy to read。 Reminiscent of The Tipping Point （which the author actually mentioned within the book） and I enjoyed the examples given to hone in on the points made throughout。
Parker Brogdon
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One of those books that seems so simple， but probably isn’t。 Organizing thoughts and putting in the effort to write down and officially publish ideas that we all have but have no patience to， ya know， look into and experiment with。 Thanks for not being one of us lazy people， Jonah Berger。 It’s a great read。
Tommy Kowalski
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Quick read。 Interesting to hear perspectives on how and why things catch on。 It provides a solid framework for how to approach marketing products or ideas。
Julia Sidor
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Книга рассказывает， почему какие-то продукты， идеи становятся популярными。 Это происходит не из-за каких-то случайных событий или привлечения влиятельных компаний， личностей。 У заразительности и виральности есть конкретная формула: социальная валюта + триггеры + эмоции + общество + практическая ценность + истории。 Могу сказать， что больше всего меня заставили задуматься главы про социальную валюту， триггеры и общество。 Обо всех остальных компонентах этой формулы я уже слышала。 А вот эти три глав Книга рассказывает， почему какие-то продукты， идеи становятся популярными。 Это происходит не из-за каких-то случайных событий или привлечения влиятельных компаний， личностей。 У заразительности и виральности есть конкретная формула: социальная валюта + триггеры + эмоции + общество + практическая ценность + истории。 Могу сказать， что больше всего меня заставили задуматься главы про социальную валюту， триггеры и общество。 Обо всех остальных компонентах этой формулы я уже слышала。 А вот эти три главы прояснили то， что я только подсознательно осознавала。Почему люди делятся информацией: это дает им статус интересных и незаурядных личностей。 Людям важно， как о них думают другие。 Поэтому они заботятся не только о внешнем виде， но и том， что они рассказывают。 Это и есть социальная валюта。 Рассказывая интересные истории， человек повышает свой имидж в глазах другого。Почему люди чаще говорят о сухих завтраках， чем о Диснейленде？ В Диснейленде они бывают редко， поэтому это краткосрочный повод для обсуждения。 Не будет же человек каждый день рассказывает о своей поездке в Диснейленд？ А вот о сухих завтраках， одежде и еще чем-нибудь - пожалуйста。 Ведь это то， что окружает его в повседневной жизни。 "Мартышка видит， мартышка повторяет"。 Для того， чтобы продукт распространился， люди должны видеть， как его используют。 Как определить， какой ресторан хороший в незнакомом городе？ Посмотреть， где больше всего очередь！ Еще в этой главе понравился пример， как не сработала антинаркотическая реклама в США。 В ней детей и подростков учили отвергать предложение попробовать наркотики。 Ожидания были， что меньше подростков будут пробовать наркотики， но получилось наоборот。 Подросткам с каждого угла кричали о наркотиках， что сделало их чем-то публичным。 Реклама показывала， что это плохо， но в то же время создавалось впечатление， что их часто употребляют。 А раз их употребляли другие сверстники， то почему тогда плохо， если попробуют и они？Интересное и ненапряжное чтиво， сдобренное большим количеством примеров， чтобы лучше донести идею。 Советую к прочтению тем， кто начинает работать с продуктами и ищет способы их широкого распространения。 。。。more
Cristian With No h
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I really enjoyed this one！
Deeana Parent
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A must-read for anyone who works in marketing or aspires to。 The author’s “STEPPS” process to making content with vitality potential is simple yet effective。 I will be applying the strategy to future marketing ploys。
Samuel Premkumar
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A book on the importance and value of "word of mouth"。 A bit text bookish type narrative but worth going through。 The author says WoM marketing has much more impact on buyers than multi-million ad spends and he is right。 A WoM recommendation from a friend is likely to carry more weight than any ads。 The author also stresses the importance of subtle public exposure of the brand in unrelated environments to reinforce brand recall。 May be companies will return back to WoM marketing after blowing a A book on the importance and value of "word of mouth"。 A bit text bookish type narrative but worth going through。 The author says WoM marketing has much more impact on buyers than multi-million ad spends and he is right。 A WoM recommendation from a friend is likely to carry more weight than any ads。 The author also stresses the importance of subtle public exposure of the brand in unrelated environments to reinforce brand recall。 May be companies will return back to WoM marketing after blowing a few millions on social media and TV。 。。。more
Christian Ardaix
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If you are someone who struggles to think outside the box， and if you're looking to expand your creativity， this is the book for you！ If you are someone who struggles to think outside the box， and if you're looking to expand your creativity， this is the book for you！ 。。。more
Pinaki Saha
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Very good read！This book has tons of examples and valuable insights on concepts that could lead to propagation of a theme/meme among the targeted demographic。 There are few key tricks that seems interesting and worthy of experimenting。
Orrezz
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ספר חובה לכל איש תוכן （ושיווק）。 הנה מה שכתבתי עליו בלינקדאין שלי:הכותרת של "ויראלי" מטעה。 זה לכאורה ספר שעוסק בעקרונות מדעיים שגורמים לאנשים לצרוך תכנים מסוימים ולהפיץ אותם יותר מאחרים。 אבל בפועל， כולנו מכירים את העקרונות האלה: חתולים， נפילות כואבות， ורצוי שניהם גם יחד。בפועל， ג'ונה ברגר שוטח משנה מרתקת בהרבה - היסודות שיוצרים לא רק תוכן טוב， אלא תמורה עסקית。 במלים אחרות， ברגר לא מסתפק בלהגדיר מהו תוכן "ויראלי" - אלא מה נחשב לתוכן "ויראלי" מוצלח， שאנשים חוזרים אליו וממשיכים להיות נאמנים למותג שיצ ספר חובה לכל איש תוכן （ושיווק）。 הנה מה שכתבתי עליו בלינקדאין שלי:הכותרת של "ויראלי" מטעה。 זה לכאורה ספר שעוסק בעקרונות מדעיים שגורמים לאנשים לצרוך תכנים מסוימים ולהפיץ אותם יותר מאחרים。 אבל בפועל， כולנו מכירים את העקרונות האלה: חתולים， נפילות כואבות， ורצוי שניהם גם יחד。בפועל， ג'ונה ברגר שוטח משנה מרתקת בהרבה - היסודות שיוצרים לא רק תוכן טוב， אלא תמורה עסקית。 במלים אחרות， ברגר לא מסתפק בלהגדיר מהו תוכן "ויראלי" - אלא מה נחשב לתוכן "ויראלי" מוצלח， שאנשים חוזרים אליו וממשיכים להיות נאמנים למותג שיצר אותו לאורך זמן。המסקנה， בקיצור נמרץ， היא שתוכן צריך לא רק להסעיר， להיות שימושי， או לגרום למי שמשתף אותו להיראות טוב。 הוא צריך להיות קשור - לא רק בשם אלא "בחבל הטבור" - למותג שיצר אותו ולזהות שלו， אחרת לא עשינו כאן הרבה。אז נכון， תוכן הוא לא פרסומת או מודעה， והוא יכול לספק ערך גם מבלי להביא לידים - אבל האמת היא שהוא יכול לעשות את שניהם גם יחד。 הנה דוגמה מצוינת מתוך הספר - סרטון של דאב שמראה את אחורי הקלעים של תעשיית היופי。 באמת יופי של סרטון。 מיתוג הכי נכון שבעולם。 לא בכדי， דאב חזרה למסרים האלה שוב ושוב。https://www。youtube。com/watch？v=iYhCn。。。 。。。more
Saalim Farhmand
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Excellent。 I enjoyed most part of the book。 However， at times， it felt that the Author dragged some details a bit too long so I had to skip and scan。 Overall， a very useful marketing guide。 The book in short:There are six principles discussed in the book that drive things to catch on。t1。 Social CurrencytWe share things that make us look good。 Does talking about your product or idea make people look good？ Can you find the inner remarkability？ Leverage game mechanics？ Make people feel like insider Excellent。 I enjoyed most part of the book。 However， at times， it felt that the Author dragged some details a bit too long so I had to skip and scan。 Overall， a very useful marketing guide。 The book in short:There are six principles discussed in the book that drive things to catch on。t1。 Social CurrencytWe share things that make us look good。 Does talking about your product or idea make people look good？ Can you find the inner remarkability？ Leverage game mechanics？ Make people feel like insiders？2。 Triggerst Top of mind， tip of tongue。 tWhat cues make people think about your product or idea？ How can you grow the habitat and make it come to mind more often？3。 EmotiontWhen we care， we share。 Focus on feelings。 Does talking about your product or idea generate emotion？ How can you kindle the fire？4。 PublictBuilt to show， built to grow。 Does your product or idea advertise itself？ Can people see when others are using it？ If not， how can you make the private public？ Can you create a behavioral residue that sticks around even after Do people use it？5。 Practical ValuetNews you can use。 tDoes talking about your product or idea help people help others？ How can you highlight incredible value， packaging your knowledge and expertise into useful information others will want to disseminate？6。 StoriesInformation travels under the guise of idle chatter。 Is your product or idea embedded in a broader narrative that people want to share？ Is the story not only viral but also valuable？ 。。。more
Soheil
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Several articles on why things catch on condensed into 210 pages in an easy-to-understand narrative。 A must-read for people in sales and marketing or those who are starting their own business。
Prerna Katyal
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An interesting book which provides practical tips on what can be done to propel people to share stuff。 Good part is that it is has relevant brand examples on each of the aspects。 However， many of these concepts are aligned and similar to cognitive biases （and how brands have leveraged these） only packaged in different format。 Towards the end it seemed that there were lesser examples and more theory。 A little more prominent examples would have been better。Jonah Berger mentions that the key to mak An interesting book which provides practical tips on what can be done to propel people to share stuff。 Good part is that it is has relevant brand examples on each of the aspects。 However， many of these concepts are aligned and similar to cognitive biases （and how brands have leveraged these） only packaged in different format。 Towards the end it seemed that there were lesser examples and more theory。 A little more prominent examples would have been better。Jonah Berger mentions that the key to making anything contagious is STEPPS:1） SOCIAL CURRENCY （people like sharing stuff which makes them look good， smart， cool， etc。 ）- apply game mechanics in business strategy - people like to share when they have won something。 eg: Frequent Flier programs 。。 people share when they have achieved a particular level- making them feel like insiders in a select group inducing scarcity to make them feel special （Exclusive club by Mc D， Royal Enfield， etc。）2） TRIGGERS （brand should associate themselves with common action or event which makes them remind of the brand and they talk about it）Eg: sales of mars skyrocketed during the Mars Pathfinder mission， voters support school funding if voting happens in schools， kit kat became popular because its ads depicted association with drinking coffee which is everyday event）- song 'Friday' appeared bump in plays every FridayNote: While instigating triggers， context is extremely important。 If the context is not right， triggers will have no effect。 For eg: a bathroom mat ad showcasing that the person is falling when in bathroom can be effective to remember except that people can't purchase bathroom mat while in bathroom and they forget afterwards。3） EMOTION （the stuff that generates feeling of awe or sense of wonder and amazement， tend to be shared more often） This is reason why articles related to science tend to be shared more ofteneg: United Breaks Guitar （When musician wrote song about United Airways when it mishandled his guitar and customer support was very poor）Note: strong emotions don't necessarily effect shareability but only emotions that provoke arousal。 Negative emotions （Sadness is low arousal。 Anger is high arousal。） Positive emotions （humour is high arousal。 feeling of content is low arousal）4） PUBLIC （people care about what is popular and respond to social public cues）eg: - placement of Apple logo on laptops is upside down so that is more viewable correctly to public than the owner itself ; - Concept of Movember in which men grow beard to raise funds for prostate cancer and men's health; - why restaurants with more people is chosen more often than one with no people （social proof）; - why smartphones have 'shot on iphone' or mails have 'sent by outlook' ; - iphone's white headphones ; - Lance Armstrong Foundation's effort to raise effort for charity by giving them bands which people wore during cycle ride -> this created a behavioral residue which people could have even after the event was over- This can also backfire （also negative social proof）。 Just Say No campaign for drugs made drug use more visible。 Teenagers started thinking that every teenager is taking them and I am the only one left out and led to negative consequences indirectly。5） PRACTICAL VALUE （people share stuff which they think will be useful for others）eg: people pay attention to discounts and tend to share that more often。 The book could have shared more examples of brands that have done that。 But it is a reason why content types of 10 tips ， 10 ways etc。 tend to work。Behaviour science alignment on discount - Prospect Theory （people think in terms of expected utility relative to a reference point）， Concept of diminishing sensitivity （people not only compare discounts but also compare discounts to original prices。 eg you wouldn't mind adding accessories to a car but would mind purchasing item of same quantity）Rule of 100 - a rule which states that any product which is above $100 should mention discounts in absolute value rather than %。 20% on $1000 means $200 is more appealing than just saying 20% off6） STORIES （people tend to share interesting stories）examples: - Dove Real Beauty campaign ; - person who last 245 pouds by only eating Subway burger。 This was interesting story because it is inspiration and not what people usually expect。 Also the brand is well integrated into the story。 Note: the campaigns also fail when the brand is not well integrated。 People remember the story but forget mentioning the brand。 eg: GoldenPalace。com video of a person diving into pool in polka pants with brand logo。 Brand is a casino brand。 Story went viral but since it had no correlation to brand it didn't work for them。Evian's （water bottle brand） ad of babies riding on roller goaster listening to rap got into guiness book of records for most viewed ad but didn't help the brand 。。。more
Ahmed Osama
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Products and ideas succeed because they have reasonable prices， offer quality that is attractive and their ads are pricey。 But on the other hand we encountered products that don't haver these traits and are so known though。 This is because of what the writer put it in an acronym: STEPPSS: Social currency （people share things that make them look good）T: Trigger （considering cues that will make peopel remember the product）E: Emotion （talking about the product should generate emotions）P: Public （Tv Products and ideas succeed because they have reasonable prices， offer quality that is attractive and their ads are pricey。 But on the other hand we encountered products that don't haver these traits and are so known though。 This is because of what the writer put it in an acronym: STEPPSS: Social currency （people share things that make them look good）T: Trigger （considering cues that will make peopel remember the product）E: Emotion （talking about the product should generate emotions）P: Public （Tv shows use canned laugh track as people are more likely to laugh when hearing others laugh）P: Practical value: （does the product help people）S: Stories （is your product embedded in a broader narrative） 。。。more
Vadim Meleshuk
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I didn't like the narrator， so that reflects on the book even though it shouldn't。 Liked: 1） Some key ideas， mostly the one about triggers 2） General theory on virality of contents， even though it already seems dated in 2021。 3） Some anecdotes with non-obvious outcomesDid not like: 1） I think too many folks followed the ideas and now too many， including myself， are quite allergic to the recipes because of dramatic overuse and need some new or subtler ideas 2） Repetitiveness and length。 I think I didn't like the narrator， so that reflects on the book even though it shouldn't。 Liked: 1） Some key ideas， mostly the one about triggers 2） General theory on virality of contents， even though it already seems dated in 2021。 3） Some anecdotes with non-obvious outcomesDid not like: 1） I think too many folks followed the ideas and now too many， including myself， are quite allergic to the recipes because of dramatic overuse and need some new or subtler ideas 2） Repetitiveness and length。 I think the book could have been compressed into a blog post。 3） Un-sophisticated， even sophomoric， language。 Is the author really a professor？ 。。。more
Filip Novakovski
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Quick， fun and insightful read to get you thinking 💭 it sticks :）
Charity
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While not always the best-written （sentence fragments anyone？） the data is so compelling this book is a MUST for anyone getting ideas out into the world。
Rajesh BATTULA
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Do not go by my ratings。 I give give five stars to any book which I am able to finish。 Especially if I am unable to put it down。 I wanted to know what and why exactly something goes viral。 I am not sure I got the answers which I wanted but the author has done his job of writing a book which can't be Pu Down。 Do not go by my ratings。 I give give five stars to any book which I am able to finish。 Especially if I am unable to put it down。 I wanted to know what and why exactly something goes viral。 I am not sure I got the answers which I wanted but the author has done his job of writing a book which can't be Pu Down。 。。。more
Liz
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Interesting， but not super applicable to me。
Regencyfan93
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The first quarter of the book was interesting。 I enjoyed the examples throughout the book。 Since I am not planning any publicity where I need something to go viral， this felt like a text book in a course I am required to take。 Though I do think now before I forward an article， that it have practical information value， which is a required ingredient for viral。
Ana Paula Carrijo Barroso
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A must read！Berger brings a compelling guide on how things catch on。 It is thought provoking and inspiring！ You will be reflecting about it for a long time。
heba abdelall
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من افضل خمس كتب فى التسويق
Majda
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Very useful with real examples
Elizabeth Roos
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Couldn’t make myself finish this - made it half way through。 Very out of date marketing book for our work book club。 Didn’t gain much other than how much marketing has evolved since 2013。
MacKenzie Green
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Maybe because I recently finished Tiny Habits I really enjoyed how a lot of what I saw in habit design was reflected here in making an effective marketing campaign。 I think the STEPPS framework is a simple approach that gives you a good way to check if you are creating effective marketing， especially for a social media director like myself。 Now looking forward to working my way through the bibliography and books featured in this one。
Charonda Jefferson
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This was a great book， anyone that has a business should read it。 The descriptions of how thinks sell and move or get noticed and why。 A great breakdown and history of popular media craze and not so popular， as well as the strategies used。
ariel
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if i didn't have to read this for my viral marketing class， there's no way i'd read this on my own。 it's was mildly interesting， and it might have been more interesting at the time it was first published， but now it's super basic stuff。 social media/marketing/variability is constantly changing so this could be a good beginner text， but nothing i would recommend you spend money for。 if i didn't have to read this for my viral marketing class， there's no way i'd read this on my own。 it's was mildly interesting， and it might have been more interesting at the time it was first published， but now it's super basic stuff。 social media/marketing/variability is constantly changing so this could be a good beginner text， but nothing i would recommend you spend money for。 。。。more
Or Lowi
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This book shows us how， in six simple STEPPS， we can create better marketing campaigns for our products and services。I really enjoyed the book; it was exactly to the point， filled with just the right amount of real-world examples。 It is a fascinating book， especially for marketing people and campaign leaders， but really for anyone who wants to know the psychology behind what makes products and ideas go viral。
AnaMaurícia
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Very interesting！For curious people like me that wants to understand why products or ideas catch on， it gives an approach to the tools and a vision to get there！
Abdullah
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