January Read

Title: Contagious: Why Things Catch On

Author: Berger, Jonah

Call Number: 658.8342 B496C 2013

Subjects: New Products; Consumer Behavior; Popularity

Number of Pages: 244

ISBN: 9781451686579

Book Description (from the inside of the book cover):

            If you said advertising, think again. People don’t listen to advertisements, they listen to their peers. But why do people talk about certain products and ideas more than others? Why are some stories and rumors more infectious? And what makes online content go viral?

            Wharton marketing professor Johan Berger has spent the last decade answering these questions. He’s studied why New York Times articles make the paper’s own Most E-mailed List, why products get word of mouth, and how social influence shapes everything from the cars we buy to the clothes we wear to the names we give our children.

            In this book, Berger reveals the secret science behind word-of-mouth and social transmission. Discover how six basic principles drive all sorts of things to become contagious, from consumer products and policy initiatives to workplace rumors and Youtube videos.

            Contagious combines groundbreaking research with powerful stories. Learn how a luxury steakhouse found popularity through\ the lowly cheesesteak, why anti-drug commercials might have actually increased drug use, and why more than 200 million consumers shared a video about one of the seemingly most boring products there is: a blender.

            If you’ve wondered why certain stories get shared, e-mails get forwarded, or videos go viral, Contagious explains why, and shows how to leverage these concepts to craft contagious content. This book provides a set of specific, actionable techniques for helping information spread-for designing messages, advertisements, and information that people will share Whether you’re a manager at a big company, a small business owner trying to boost awareness, a politician running for office, or health official trying to get the word out, Contagious will show you how to make your product or idea catch on.

My Read:

            The author lists six key principles in the book. He says: The same key principles drive all sorts of social epidemics. Whether it’s about getting people to save paper, see a documentary, try a service, or vote for a candidate, there is a recipe for success. The same six principles or STEPPS, drive things to catch on (page 207). There are:

Social Currency-We share things that make us look good

Triggers-Top of mind, tip of tongue

Emotion-When we care, we share

Public-Built to show, built to grow

Practical Value-News you can use

Stories-Information travels under the guise of idle chatter

            And if you want to apply this framework, here’s a checklist you can use to see how well your product or idea is doing on the six different STEPPS (page 209)

Social Currency-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?

Triggers-Consider the context. What cues make people think about your product or idea? How can you grow the habitat and make it come to mind more often?

Emotion-Focus on feelings. Does talking about your product or idea generate emotion? How can you kindle the fire?

Public-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 behavioral residue that sticks around even after people use it?

Practical Value-Does 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?

Stories-What is your Trojan Horse? Is your product or idea embedded in a broader narrative that people want to share? Is the story not only viral, but also valuable?

            As I closed the book and thought back what I just read some points and stories popped up. First is “the Rule of 100.” The receiver of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics is Daniel Kahneman. He isn’t an economist. He is a psychologist. He has this theory called “prospect theory.” The Rule of 100 is explained as followed: if the product’s price is less than $100, the Rule of 100 says that percentage discounts will seem larger (i.e $30 with $3 off vs 10% discount). If the product’s price is more than 4100, the opposite is true (i.e $2,000 with $200 off vs 10% discount).

            The second point came to mind is the emotion part. Both positive and negative emotion will trigger the virality. Not all positive emotions will do. There are 3 kinds of positive emotion that will do the magic: awe, excitement, and amusement. And two kinds of negative emotion will go viral: anger and anxiety.

            The third point is the case about iPod’s headphone. Instead of the ubiquitous black headphone, the Apple Company had their white iPod headphone. The white color stands out. Another similar case is the yellow Livestrong wristband.

            And don’t forget the first story about the “Please Don’t Tell” bar in New York. How the hot dog shop "Crif Dogs" stands out and beats the other nearby 60 places to sell their drinks: they use a wooden old-fashioned phone booth as the secret passage to their forty-five seats bar behind the shop. Patrons have to locate the booth then dial clockwise to hear the answer: Do you have a reservation? And, suddenly, the back of the booth swings open-it's a secret door!(page 30).

            Overall I find the book helpful and worthy of reading and referring. "Monkey see, monkey do." The author states from the beginning of the book: "Word of mouth is more effective than traditional advertising for two key reasons. 1)it's more persuasive. Our friends tend to tell us straight. Their objectivity coupled with their candidness, make us much more likely to trust, listen to, and believe our friends. 2) word of mouth is more targeted. It is naturally directed toward an interested audience. Word of mouth tends to reach people who are actually interested in the thing being discussed.

Please find some more stories and cases in the Reference.

Reference:

Book-Made to Stick by Heath, Chip and Dan

Will it Blend?

Please Don’t Tell-Crif Dogs in New York

Rue La La

Barclay Prime’s hundred-dollar cheesesteak

Ken Craig’s Clean Ears Everytime

Google’s Parisian Love

iPod’s white headphones

Movember

Livestrong bands

Man Drinks fat

Dove’s Evolution

(one can search the case by youtube.com or Google)