Contagious Book Review (By Jonah Berger)
“Contagious by Jonah Berger is a modern day classic and well worth a read”
About Jonah Berger
University of Pennsylvania Marketing Professor, Jonah Berger, is the author of the bestselling book Contagious: Why Things Catch On. Dr Berger spent 15 years studying social influence – understanding how it works, and why products and ideas catch on. Jonah publishes highly esteemed articles in top-tier academic journals and consults with various Fortune 500 companies, including Google, Coca-Cola, Cisco, LinkedIn, and many more. His research was included in the New York Times Magazine’s “Years In Ideas”, which you can read more about on his website.
Our Marketing Executive, Dominic Moore, comes into 2021 with an on-topic book for his latest review – How to Build Word Of Mouth In The Digital Age, written by Jonah Berger
Outline of the book
What makes things popular, and why does a piece of online content go viral? Why is it that people talk about certain products and ideas over others? How can some stories and rumours be more infectious? This book addresses the issues brands discovered in 2020, moving further into the digital age than most ever expected. It tells you how to interpret what you have and how to strengthen your brand to fit the mould being created.
Key Learnings about Contagious
Jonah Berger highlights a crucial insight for marketers: word of mouth is most powerful when it comes from people we trust. While advertising builds awareness, personal recommendations drive action.
People naturally share products with those they believe will be genuinely interested — friends, family, and colleagues. Because these relationships are built on trust, their opinions carry more weight than brand-led claims.
Consider this: an advert says 9/10 people recommend a product, but a friend tells you they’ve used it and loved it. Which do you believe? Most people trust their friend. That credibility makes word-of-mouth more persuasive than even the most polished campaign.
Advertising plays an important role in recognition and reach. But referrals, recommendations, and “refer-a-friend” schemes work because they harness trusted relationships. Ultimately, relevance and trust turn awareness into action — and that’s where real growth happens.
Social Currency can be as strong as the real thing
1. The Rise of Influencers
We live in a world dominated by influencers. Brands pay significant fees to access their large, trusted audiences, using borrowed credibility to promote products and services. For many businesses, this visibility feels like a shortcut to awareness and sales.
2. When You Can’t Pay to Play
But what if you can’t afford influencers? That’s where **social currency** matters. Paid endorsements can feel transactional. In contrast, organic recommendations carry authenticity. Every day, people voluntarily share brands they genuinely love — unpaid, unprompted, and often more persuasive.
3. The Psychology of Sharing
Consumers, particularly younger generations, naturally document their lives — from coffee choices to travel experiences. Sharing is social signalling. When someone posts about your product, they’re expressing identity and taste. Their network consumes this content and may act on it, especially when inspiration feels relatable and real.
4. Turning Customers into Advocates
Brands can fuel this behaviour by creating scarcity, exclusivity, or an air of insider status. Ethical values, local relevance, and strong brand stories also inspire advocacy. When customers share by choice — not incentive — they create lasting buzz. That’s social currency: influence earned, not bought.
What 6-letter mnemonic for word of mouth
The 6 words are Social Currency, Triggers, Emotion, Public, Practical Value and Stories – spelling STEPPS. The basic ideas are explained through illustrations, stories, and examples. In the end, Jonah shares the idea of the 6 STEPPS and even offers tips for creating your own content, which is definitely useful for anyone who reads it! But I am going to share my overall thoughts on the epilogue to highlight why you should think about these 6 before you act, and it’s a nice summary of the whole book’s message.
- Social Currency: Does it get people to talk about your product, and does it make people look good doing so? Does it play on bringing people in as insiders, and play on game mechanics? Is it shareable?
- Triggers: consider the context in which it is used and the cues you have that prompt people to think about the product or service. How can you grow that trigger and persuade people’s minds to think about it more often?
- Emotion: a key driving factor in people’s decision-making – so does your product spark any emotion? Can it generate it more than once? How can it drive home more than one emotion at once?
- Public: The ability for your product to advertise itself; are you able to see it when others use it? If not, how do you make it go from private to public? If someone uses it, can you make it memorable to them?
- Practical Value: If people were to talk about your product, does it help others, and does it highlight the way you’ve packaged it towards potential customers?
- Stories: the overarching point of the book is that when someone shares a story, it is not only viral but also valuable to those who listen.
Overall thoughts
It would be silly of me not to recommend this book – it’s just so interesting, and I’ve learnt so much. Yes, I definitely recommend it – go and buy it now! (you see? Social currency in play – I’m telling you how good the book is without being paid, it really does work!
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