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Contagious
Contagious: Why Things Catch On | Jonah Berger
New York Times bestseller What makes things popular? If you said advertising, think again. People dont 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. Hes studied why New York Times articles make the papers 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 cheese-steak, 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 youve 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 spreadfor designing messages, advertisements, and information that people will share. Whether youre 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.
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michaelmcgee
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4.5/5

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nevillebion
Pickpick

What makes something go viral? Is there a formula to follow or do these things happen randomly? It's easy to establish why retrospectively, but what about when you set out to create? Jonah's six STEPPS as he calls them, if applied to any content, will certainly increase the likelihood of that happening. And even if you're not a creator, this book is a fascinating read into what makes something go viral. (4.5/5)

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thatlaurenalex
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Realized I'm burning out on autobiographies lately. If I have to read one more account of childhood in the 60s... 🙃 ANYWAY. Taking a break from Kick Me to jump over to this book on the psychology of things going viral. Pretty excited about it

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SW-T
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Pickpick

Interesting book. I can see it being of practical value for folks in certain industries, along with those who are just curious about why and how some things catch on and others don‘t. Easy to read, not too complex, and relatively short. May not go into enough depth for some.

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QueenCocoa
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This book is A M AZ I N G !!! Words cannot express how great this book is! Highly recommend this 📚!

*This books is for anyone interested in marketing, entrepreneurship, statistics and/or data/research! If you are a student this book is a must have!

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MaleficentBookDragon
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I got this from our consultant last year but never read it. Now the company wants my whole department to read it. I‘d better get moving. 😀 reading at work! I‘ll try not to slip my fiction book behind it.

ReviewsbytheMrs 😂 I‘d totally try to slip my fiction book in! 6y
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wit_mccoy
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Pickpick

Loved this book! Very effecient and valuable! #goingviral #business #growth

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MaleficentBookDragon
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A little coffee with Mrs White and some reading while I wait for my computers to start up at work (it's a process). #coffeeandabook
https://youtu.be/z8d8y4BLWtI

TobeyTheScavengerMonk Awesome mug! I love that movie. 7y
EvieBee Hahaha! Made my day. 7y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag I love your mug but don't know what movie it's referencing 😳 (educate me?!) 7y
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Rachbb3 ❤❤❤ That cup!! Clue is one of my favs! 7y
LauraBrook I almost ordered this mug yesterday- now I'm thinking of going back to click "buy"! 7y
MaleficentBookDragon @thegirlwiththelibrarybag Clue with Tim Curry from 1985. Its one of my all time favorite movies. https://youtu.be/z8d8y4BLWtI 7y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag @MaleficentBookDragon, I should really watch Clue! It's come up before in conversation and there is an episode of Psych which is a homage to it... 7y
MaleficentBookDragon @thegirlwiththelibrarybag so love Psych!!! They had the best homage episodes. I love the one that was slasher movie spoof or a take off of the horror spoof April Fool's Day. 7y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag @MaleficentBookDragon, is that the summer camp one? 7y
MaleficentBookDragon @thegirlwiththelibrarybag Yes. I love that one so much. I also have a highly sensitive sense of smell. I call it my Super Sniffer like Gus. 7y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag @MaleficentBookDragon, I love that I'm still discovering the things that psych references 😂 my favourite episode is the one where Shawn tricks Henry into a nursing home to solve a case... 7y
60 likes11 comments
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MaleficentBookDragon
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Now I can read at work without reprimand. Our company consultant handed this out. #readingatwork

Cinfhen 😂 7y
Graciouswarriorprincess 👍🏻😜 7y
Eliane How was it? I have it but didn't read it yet 🙊 7y
MaleficentBookDragon @Eliane I just started it. I'll let you know how it goes. 7y
Eliane @MaleficentBookDragon 👌🏻😍 awesome! 7y
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ValerieAndBooks
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Mehso-so

Much is made of the fact that the author teaches at Wharton, so those hoping for a mini-course in marketing may be disappointed. Laypeople (myself) will find this interesting but unlikely to consciously use his STEPP principles. Not sure this book will become contagious which is somewhat ironic.

jeff I agree. Wasn't really wowed by the book. Lacked any real depth or insights. 8y
RebeccaRenner I'm interested in the topic though. If this wasn't great, do you and @jeff know of a better book on the subject? 8y
jeff @BeckyRenner Try Made to Stick (Heath) and Tipping Point (Gladwell). For more of the science behind crowds, check out Wisdom of the Crowds (Surowiecki). And for more on what defines success, I liked Bounce (Syed) 8y
ValerieAndBooks @BeckyRenner I haven't read much in this vein other than all of Malcolm Gladwell's books -- thanks @Jeff for the recs! 8y
RebeccaRenner @jeff Thanks for the recommendations! I'll check those out. :) 8y
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ValerieAndBooks
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Not sure I agree -- is this a bit dated? He's talking about sharing via email but it sure seems like there's a lot of sharing of negative news stories on Facebook. Do people even share links to articles via email anymore?

Mayread Well FB is now uncool & the realm of old people, so emailed links are probably still relevant, although most people I know text them. 8y
SaraFair The 70 and older crowd still email. They never bothered to learn to text or get a smart phone. My mother in law complains still about "junk email from friends forwarding". 8y
ValerieAndBooks @Skiles @SaraFair I agree with you both. I guess my question is really more that people seem to have no problem sharing links that are 8y
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ValerieAndBooks @Skiles @SaraFair ...sharing links about bad news via Facebook. The author seems to imply that people are more likely to share links to good news. Hope I'm making sense... 8y
Mayread Ah it sounded like the medium was the question, not the type of content. I left fb a few years ago, but I think it's probably still the same. Negativity doesn't reign supreme, but stupidity does: I'm talking listicles, celeb gossip, quizzes, anything on buzzfeed, videos of cute animals, etc. 8y
ValerieAndBooks @Skiles yep still pretty much the same there😂. I'm on it still, only because all of our extended families live on the other side of the country -- easy way to be in touch. 8y
10 likes6 comments
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ValerieAndBooks
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90° already at 11am. Poolside reading: Contagious. Supposed to be along the lines of Malcolm Gladwell but with more explanation of the whys behind certain trends. So far I've learned that social media provides less word of mouth than most think. But Litsy wasn't invented at the time of writing ?

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