The Principles Behind Why Things Catch On

After viewing a funny video on YouTube, why do we forward it to friends or post it to Facebook? Why do we retweet one tweet, but not a different one? Why do we find ourselves walking to the nearest Starbucks when it’s time for a “pick me up?” Jonah Berger dissects why things catch on his book Contagious: Why Things Catch On.

“Contagious” reminds me of related books that dissect why ideas and businesses catch on, or “go viral.” One such book is Adam Penenberg’s Viral Loop, which dissects the growth behind a number of Internet start-ups (e.g. Netscape, Paypal, flickr and “Hot or Not”). Seth Godin’s Unleashing the Ideavirus covers how to “Turn Your Ideas into Epidemics by Helping Your Customers Do the Marketing thing for You.”

The Importance of Understanding the “Why”

While I have yet to read “Contagious” (it’s on my reading list), I find these sorts of books fascinating. But looking beyond fascination, organizations (both businesses and non-profits alike) can leverage these books to further their cause. By understanding the “why” of contagious content or viral loop businesses, we can model these successes to create our own.

How the Starbucks Experience Became Contagious

We read Berger’s book and decided to apply his six principles (of why things catch on) to the growth of Starbucks. Have a look at our SlideShare:

How the Starbucks Experience Became Contagious from DNN

Infographic: Six Secrets of Contagious Content

WhoIsHostingThis.com published an interesting infographic that applies Berger’s six principles to the creation of contagious content. Content marketers: be sure to review the bulleted list of tips that the infographic lists under each of the six principles. We’ll look to apply them to our own content.