A Quick Introduction To Contagious
To those who have clicked to see this book review, I’m guessing you work in business, like marketing or sales. Which is great, but this book goes even further than that. To anyone who reads this book, without a doubt you’ll find it useful to use. So let’s get started with the book review of Contagious: Why Things Catch On, yeah?
Do you ever wonder why certain ideas, products, or memes go viral online? Like why did a blender of all things get millions of views, how are people still buying expensive Apple products, why is a Facebook mom sharing a video describing the supposed dangers of taking a vaccine, or who keeps eating my meal prep in the fridge? Okay, I made that last one up, but you get my point.
The Time I Tried Dropshipping
Anyway, I remember when I tried to make a gaming accessory store off of Shopify, and let me tell you, it FLOPPED. I made a beautiful website, researched a product that would be highly likely to be purchased, and even made sure there wasn’t much competition. I smugly made the site live and posted it to the World Wide Web. Waited, a bit, got anxious, made social media accounts, did some paid ads, and waited some more.
Annnnnnd there was nothing. Well except for one comment under a post that said they could probably get the same thing from their local flea market.
Trust me, if I had read this book before, I’d be a millionaire sipping lemonade on the coast of the Philippines. Well, okay maybe I’m stretching it out a bit.
Back To Reality
The main question Jonah Berger, the author of Contagious, asks is “Why do things catch on?”. How is it that some ideas thrive, while other ideas go off and die? His main point is that things are spread because of social transmission. Some people would think that’s obvious even. However, Berger goes deeper than that and gives six critical principles for making products or ideas spread.
These six things are social currency, triggers, emotion, public, practical value, and stories. Such principles go hand and hand with each other and create something viral. Any and every product or content that has gotten boosts in views, shares, sales, or stuff of the sort, has at least one or two of these principles. And don’t worry I’ll get into the meat of it soon. However, if you came here for a summary of Contagious, this ain’t the place to be.
Results of Why Things Catch On
If I didn’t make it obvious before, I learned a lot of practical information from this. The same thing could, likely would, happen to you too. I’m pretty sure no matter your role in this life, the material Jonah Berger provides will be useful. Be it you being an entrepreneur, a marketer, a content creator, or a product manager, you’ll use it.
Berger boldly claims that virality isn’t born or random, but it’s made. Who would’ve thought there was a way to FORCE something to become popular?
The Vital Principles Of Contagious
The way it’s made is a simple system of STEPPS previously mentioned before.
- Social Currency
- Triggers
- Emotion
- Publicity
- Practical Value
- Stories.
For something to have social currency, it needs to make people look good or be remarkable enough to share. If I drove my Bugatti, which I totally own by the way, down to a car meet, it would make me appear to be of wealth or luxurious. If I show off the boss I just beat in Elden Ring to my peers, I’d appear super cool (unless they have no idea about it…which is common, so mostly no social points by showing that off, and no girls either).
As for triggers, it is something close to like context cues or clues. Things that make it to the forefront of your mind, or the tip of your tongue. For example, you’re not gonna remember to wash the dishes when you are out chillin’ with your friends. However, when you walk into your house, best believe you’re going to remember. Reachin’ for leftovers from the other night, only to realize every single one of your plates is in the sink. Shame on you for real. Anyways, the same thing should be applied to your product or ideas.
Now emotions are just in the name. You focus on the feelings because feelings are power. Jonah says that feelings evoke more out of people than logic alone. Certain emotions can evoke more arousal than others. Challenge for you salesmen out there, try to get the client excited over the product. Good luck to the door-to-door pest control or roofers though, going to have to rely on a different emotion. (Stop knocking at my door PLEEEAASEEE).
The Other Three Principles
The next thing is publicity. Pretty straightforward, I mean how are people going to know what you have to share if it is not publicized? If your content or product is being held private, you’re going to need to figure out a way to bring it to light. Berger mentioned that Apple made its headphones white to stand out from the competition. This seems to work out because anytime I see a white earphone, I immediately think of Apple. If the earphones are black…well that could be anyone’s guess.
The fifth concept I learned about is practical value. If a person were to share a product or idea, is it going to help others? Useful things help others, that’s why I’m able to talk about how to pass a Physics 1 exam in the middle of a celebration. Or why my friend can discuss why it’s essential to replace a roof while we’re on a mountain bike trail. It’s not that there’s a passion behind these things, it’s just that helping people makes us feel good.
Lastly is the idea of stories. The kinda thing that reels you in and makes you read the whole thing. Berger kinda bases most of the chapter around the Trojan horse. Yeah, you know that classic story. This time instead of slaughtering your enemies, you craft a story that can be shared and also boost the image of your idea.
Honestly, these concepts are pretty useful, and I’ll use them sometime in the future. One more thing too, I only went to the tip of the iceberg so if this book interests you, make sure to read it sometime.
The Pros and The Cons
Alright, let’s talk about the goodies that this book provides.
This book is easy to read and even easier to understand. It’s like I’m being spoon-fed nutrient-rich information. And it’s clear that he’s done his research and knows what he’s talking about.
He writes content that’s not only practical, but anyone can use it for their needs. I’d say there has been lots of insight given out. Jonah Berger also goes deep into the topics, further explaining the bases behind them.
The examples are great, and the analogies given out are even better. He’s very entertaining and has scientific powerful analysis.
Now it is time for the problems that this book comes with. DUN DUN DUN.
Now I’m no marketing professional or anything, but some of the stuff contained common sense. I’m sure that if you were to sit down and observe popular Instagram reels or YouTube videos, you’d gain some insight into what gets popular and what doesn’t.
Sometimes I would find the book boring and put it down to take a break from it. Mostly because it can get a bit repetitive when explaining the principles.
Final Thoughts
All in all, I believe that this book was useful. Anyone who wants to know the strategies behind how things become popular and spread should read this book. Beginners can easily sit down and understand what’s being said, unlike modern rap songs. Jonah Berger states that 20-50% of social communication accounts for purchases. I’m sure if you were to use these STEPPS in your business, work, or even love life (I think), it’ll work wonders. Sure these concepts can be simple, and even boring, but it just goes to show that magic isn’t needed to make things viral.
Overall I give this book an 8.0/10.0
You should go read it if you want to make your content or product go viral and spread like wildfire. However, if you feel like you’ve got a strong foundation in marketing, you might not need this. He cooked here fr.
Thanks for checking out my book review of Contagious: Why Things Catch On. Peace out!
