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book2013

Contagious

Disciplines:
marketing
content creation/viral content
social philosophy/social contagion
berger

Summary

Jonah Berger's 2013 book explaining the six principles (STEPPS) that make content, products, and ideas spread through social networks — Social Currency, Triggers, Emotion, Public, Practical Value, Stories — grounded in academic research rather than anecdote.

Core Contribution

Provides the empirical framework for designing virality — Contagious moved beyond 'make it remarkable' to specific psychological mechanisms; Triggers (everyday stimuli that prompt people to think of a product) and Practical Value (useful information spreads because sharing it makes people look helpful) are the most novel insights.

Historical Influences

Jonah Berger

Intellectual Lineage

Jonah Berger Simon & Schuster

Allied Works

Made to Stick The Tipping Point

Contemporaries & Peers

Made to Stick The Tipping Point

Minds Influenced

Content marketing strategy Lenny's Podcast

Intellectual Posterity

Contagious STEPPS

Discussing

Contagious

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