Contagious - Jonah Berger

Contagious

By Jonah Berger

  • Release Date: 2013-03-05
  • Genre: Marketing & Sales
Score: 4
4
From 428 Ratings
$13.99 On itunes Buy on Amazon

Description

The New York Times bestseller that explains why certain products and ideas become popular.

“Jonah Berger knows more about what makes information ‘go viral’ than anyone in the world.” —Daniel Gilbert, author of the bestseller Stumbling on Happiness

What makes things popular? 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 Jonah 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 Contagious, 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. 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 most boring products there is: a blender.

Contagious provides specific, actionable techniques for helping information spread—for designing messages, advertisements, and content 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 a health official trying to get the word out, Contagious will show you how to make your product or idea catch on.

Reviews

  • Powerful and practical

    5
    By alias16283
    Excellent read for anyone wanting a practical guide to helping products spread in organic ways.

  • Interesting but redundant

    3
    By saintdaddi
    found contagious to be interesting to an extent, but feel many of the points were dragged out too long.

  • Repetitive

    1
    By Devo-tion
    Too repetitive. Seemed like it needed to fill pages, rather than share points.

  • Contagious

    5
    By THEDONGH
    Great and valuable read

  • One of the best

    5
    By Ayar Kyaw Oo
    Great book for advertising industry

  • 10 for 10

    5
    By Street-smart
    Read once, and as an entrepreneur.. one of thee best books I’ve ever read. No such thing as common sense. “You can learn from a ROCK how to be STILL.” And this is a book. You do the math!

  • Fantastic book.

    5
    By Keyzmuzic
    I recommend it to anyone that needs an understanding of the “why” behind what makes things catch on.

  • Nipsey

    5
    By Ig @lo_okn4bandz
    Nipsey hussle brought me here good read

  • Thoughtful book on Marketing

    4
    By Nvnati
    I really appreciate all the insight and research that went into this book. It's a practical guide for people in marketing and PR. I will be using the STEPPS mentioned in this book as a guide from now on.

  • Book Review

    4
    By chelllygirl_Michele
    I am a student of the University of Baltimore and I am writing a review for this book for an assignment. Over all this was a pretty good read for, a little slow at times and at times was hard for me to want to keep up with, but for the most part had very useful information, especially for this day in age when things go viral quickly. In this book Jonah Berger talks about why things catch on or go viral in a sense. Jonah Berger outlines STEPPS which is an acronym for the steps he believes are the reasons of why things catch on and companies can use these to market their company and be successful with creating a buzz about their company or product. The STEPPS include, Social Currency, Triggers, Emotions, Public, Practical Value and Stories. Social Currency deals with how much people are talking about you and your brand. It is assumed that people should be talking about you, definitely in a good way to get the buzz going about you, your company or brand. Triggers are things that I someone hears them it makes them think of your company. For instance if someone says the word Apple, it is not only now associated with eating an apple, but apple the brand. The next is Emotions, what emotions does your company give off , what feelings do customers get when they hear or think of your brand ? Public means that no one is taking about you or your company if there is nothing out there for them to see. For instance a shirt that has the Apple logo will stand out and cause people to notice it. Practical Value deals with news you can use, basically how helpful is this to me ? How does this benefit me ? Stories deals with your product or idea having a story to it . People like to tell stories and if you have a good one it can benefit you in the long run.

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