Contagious: Why things catch on

Contagious: Why Things Catch On

Author: Jonah Berger

Book Length: 244 pages

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Price: $26.00 (NEW HARD COVER)

*COUGH,COUGH* It’s Contagious

By: Donavon Kelly

Jonah Berger’s “Contagious” is a book explaining the reasoning behind why things go “viral” or catch on. Berger gives us six STEPPS – social currency, triggers, emotion, public, practical value and stories. Berger teaches us how content becomes contagious through these principles.

Berger uses a lot of research to back up is explanations for each principle. Social currency refers to how good something makes us look. Berger explains how people usually talk about things that make them look good. He uses the product Blendtec as an example. This company focused on highlighting the product’s ability to blend almost anything, including a cell phone. Focusing on this remarkable feature helped generate millions for the company. Having such a powerful blender made customers look good when they talk about this product.

We often base our purchases on the testimonials we hear from other consumers. I refused to get the iPhone for many years because I didn’t want to hop on the bandwagon. My older brother, however, was #teamiPhone all the way. Talking about the iPhone made him look good. He would constantly rub the emoji feature in my face and show off the phone’s sleek appearance. This content was contagious and I now own an iPhone. I often find myself teasing people, mainly my mom, who don’t have iPhones.

This book was very informative, but in all honesty it was way too long. Berger could have accomplished his task with fewer pages. Once I understood the purpose of the book, I didn’t see a need for so much research to be included. Perhaps he was trying to satisfy a personal craving.