Finally part 6g of my Magic Test of Seven
What did I learn from reading the book Contagious from Jonah Berger?
A book about “How to build word of mouth in the digital age.”
A colleague lent me this fabulous book and I read it the same day. A great read for anyone, who not only wants to get heard but wants to get people to spread the word and act. Easier said than done. It’s not like we suddenly will all be able to spread our ingenious ideas after just reading this book. Though the framework Jonah presents is very solid, well written and the book is full of splendid examples.
Let me start off with just a few random sentences from the book that caught me:
“People don’t want to feel like they’re being told something – they want to be entertained, they want to be moved.”
“Behavior is public but thoughts are private.”
“Monkey see, monkey do.”
“Top of mind means tip of tongue”
The framework from Jonah contains 6 STEPPS that explain why certain things catch on yet other’s don’t:
– Social currency (how does it make people look)
– Triggers
– Emotion
– Public
– Practical Value
– Stories
Of those Triggers and Emotion were the ones that intrigued me most.
Triggers are like little environmental reminders for related concepts & ideas. Stimuli in the surrounding environment can determine which thoughts and ideas are top of mind. Using a product is a strong trigger. Most people drink milk more often than grape juice, so milk is top of mind more often. But triggers can also be indirect. Seeing a jar of peanut butter, can trigger us to think of jelly. (Potentially a rather American thought :-))
Why does it matter if particular thoughts or ideas are top of mind? Because accessible thoughts and ideas lead to action.
What makes a trigger effective?
1. Frequency
2. Strength of the link
3. Proximity (pick triggers that happen near where the desired behavior is taking place)
Examples
– Mars bar sales headed skyward during Nasa’s Pathfinder mission
– When French music plays more people buy French wine when German music plays, more people buy German wine
– The hugely successful Kit Kat & Coffee Campaign
Last but not least which one of these slogans do you think people acted on?
“Live the healthy way, eat five fruits and veggies a day”
“Each and every dining hall tray needs five fruits and veggies a day”
Students considered the second slogan very corny (no surprise) yet the students that were asked to judge this slogan actually ended up putting 25% more healthy food on their trays!
Triggers are extremely powerful.
And emotions aren’t less powerful. They’re just even more complex.
Jonah studied nearly 7.000 articles from the New York Times.
By tagging every emotion, they soon learned that positive articles were more likely to be highly shared than negative ones. But there was more to it.
Jonah found out that the “Arousal” factor is key.
Arousal is a state of activation and readiness for action. The heart beats faster and blood pressure rises. High arousal emotions like awe, excitement, humor but also anger and anxiety lead to sharing. Whereas low arousal emotions like contentment or sadness do not get shared by far as much.
Interestingly, he also found out, that when people walked just 1 minute – in one and the same spot – they were more likely to share afterwards.
Jonah refers to the book “Made to stick” from Chip & Dan Heath and their concept of the “Three why’s” to find the emotional core of an idea.
For example why is online search important to people?
1. Because people want information quickly – Why?
2. So they can get answers to what they are looking for – Why?
3. So they can connect with people, achieve their goals and fulfill their dreams.
The same principle is used in Lean Six Sigma where “The Fishbone exercise” drills even deeper to get to the roots of a problem using a 5-why principle.
I love why’s. That is what I love about kids as well. They’re never afraid to ask why. You can tell the author loves the “why” question as well. Why do we behave the way we do? What makes us move? What makes us share? Drilling deeper and deeper, trying to make sense of what we see and understand the underlying principles. It’s an inspiring read.
