Why Do Certain Products or Ideas Catch On?

Book: Contagious: Why Things Catch On

Author: Jonah Berger

Length: 244 pages

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK Ltd

Price: $18.89

Why Do Certain Products or Ideas Catch On?

By: Megan Young

When I was a senior in high school, Rebecca Black released her very first song “Friday” on YouTube. Although this song became a popular YouTube video, most people mocked her whiny voice and deemed it one of the worst songs ever. However, today most people know the words to “Friday” and sing it whenever the weekend comes around.  So how do videos like “Friday” catch on so quickly among people? Also, how does something so terrible become a sensation? In Jonah Berger’s book “Contagious: Why Things Catch On”, he mentions that one of the fastest ways to learn about a new product or idea is through word of mouth. If one person shows or tells a group of people about a new product, idea or behavior, it could become an instant, new sensation, or in other words, it becomes contagious.

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Berger, a Marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania, has published many articles in The New York Times as well as the Wall Street Journal. At the University of Pennsylvania, he teaches a class titled Contagious: How Products, Behaviors, and Ideas Catch On, focusing primarily on the book itself. Additionally, Berger has received multiple awards for his scholarship and teaching.

This book teaches readers why things become so popular, and what it is that makes certain online content go viral. Berger’s expert research on the topic proves powerful in this novel, and also provides interesting examples and stories along the way, such as the Rebecca Black example. These examples provide insight to the contagious theory, and help the reader get a better idea of how things become contagious. Personally, I enjoyed the examples and believe they made this book extremely interesting.

Additionally, as a Public Relations major this book helped me understand the idea of a product, behavior or idea becoming contagious. Every day in the world around me I see different things become contagious and instant, new sensations. For example, the iPhone was released when I first started high school. I watched this very first “smartphone” develop into one of the most popular items on the market, and it still is today. After reading this book, I understand why this contagious trend took place. Overall, this book was interesting to read, and I would recommend this book to anyone in the Public Relations, Marketing or Advertising fields.

Photo provided by: http://www.unleashthephones.com