Marketing
by Jonah Berger
Why do some things catch on?
Some products, videos and ideas get talked about everywhere, while ones just as good sink without trace. Jonah Berger, a marketing professor at Wharton, spent years studying why. He found that sharing isn't luck, and that six ingredients make people far more likely to pass something on.
Hear a sample · read by Laura
Berger's six ingredients spell STEPPS. Social Currency (sharing it makes us look good). Triggers (something keeps reminding us). Emotion (it stirs us up). Public (others can see it). Practical Value (it helps someone). Stories (the idea rides inside a tale people want to tell).
Things that are top of mind are tip of tongue. Berger shows how everyday cues keep a product in conversation. Kit Kat tied itself to coffee breaks, so every cup of coffee became a reminder. The more often the world triggers your idea, the more it gets mentioned.
Berger studied which New York Times articles made the most-emailed list. Pieces that sparked awe spread more, and so did ones that made people angry or anxious. Sad ones spread less. What counts is how much a feeling fires us up. That's what makes us hit send.
People copy what they can see others doing. Nike's yellow Livestrong wristbands turned a private gift to a cancer charity into something worn in plain sight, so every band advertised the cause. Berger calls these visible traces behavioural residue.
Social Currency
People share things that make them look good, like a secret or an insider tip.
Triggers
Kit Kat got people talking by linking the bar to coffee, which they see every day.
Emotion
Things that fire us up, like awe or anger, get shared far more than sad ones.
Public
Make it visible. People copy what they can see others doing.
Practical value
Useful tips spread because people like helping their friends.
A story from the book
In New York, a bar called Please Don't Tell hides inside a hot dog shop, Crif Dogs. You step into an old phone booth, dial, and a hidden door opens. It doesn't advertise, yet tables go fast. Knowing the secret makes people feel like insiders, so they tell.
Hot take · true or myth?
Most word of mouth happens on social media.
Myth. Berger found that only about 7 percent happens online. Most is face to face or on the phone, so an idea has to be easy to bring up in ordinary conversation.
One thing to try
Pick something you want people to talk about, like your shop, a side project or a cause. Write down one thing people see or do every day that could remind them of it. Then change how you describe your idea so the two are linked.
Knotd has the key ideas from 250+ non-fiction books, each in a few minutes, in plain words. Contagious comes with a Hot Take round and a Name That Idea round to make it stick.
Get the whole book on KnotdOpen in the appWhy do some things catch on? Some products, videos and ideas get talked about everywhere, while ones just as good sink without trace. Jonah Berger, a marketing professor at Wharton, spent years studying why. He found that sharing isn't luck, and that six ingredients make people far more likely to pass something on.
STEPPS; Stay top of mind; Awe and anger travel; Make the private public.
Pick something you want people to talk about, like your shop, a side project or a cause. Write down one thing people see or do every day that could remind them of it. Then change how you describe your idea so the two are linked.
Yes. Knotd has the key ideas from Contagious in a few minutes, in plain words, plus a Hot Take round and a Name That Idea round to test them. It's one of 250+ non-fiction books in the app.
