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Contagious

15 min

Audio available

Brief Summary

"Contagious: How to Build Word of Mouth in the Digital Age" by Jonah Berger explores why certain ideas, products, and behaviors go viral. The book identifies six key principles—social currency, triggers, emotion, public visibility, practical value, and stories—that drive people to share and promote content. Through engaging examples and research, Berger provides insights into how marketers and entrepreneurs can leverage these principles to create contagious content and enhance word-of-mouth marketing.

About the Author

Jonah Berger is a professor of one of the highest-rated courses at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He has published several articles in academic journals. He has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Harvard Business Review. He has acted as consultation for companies like Apple, advised at numerous early-stage startups, and spoke at several major conferences. He has spent over 15 years studying how social influence works and how it drives products and ideas to catch on. He graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor’s in Human Judgement and Decision Making in 2002 and a Ph.D. in marketing from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2007.

Topics

Marketing & Sales

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