"Contagious: Why Things Catch On" By Jonah Berger- Introduction (Post #1)

I have always been interested by the principles of marketing. How do companies persuade consumers to buy certain things? And, why do the consumers listen? Going through the list of potential books to read, this title stuck out to me. I read a small synopsis on it, and figured that I would find the book very interesting. The introduction to the book and how it is structured is about 50 pages. This week I read the introduction, and so far I am very excited about reading the book. In the indtroduction, Berger explains what seems to be a very simple topic: why does information spread? Of course, I thought about this and came to the conclusion that in the 21st century, information most commonly spreads through social media. In our $200 project, our group has been trying to cultivate different ways of advertising though social media. Berger disproves the common assumption that information about products mostly spreads through social media. He reports a study made by the Keller Fay Group that states that only 7% of the "word of mouth" advertising about a certain product happens online. Most of what gets people talking about a certain product happens through one-on-one conversations. I was shocked when I read this. I had assumed that at least 70% of product awareness through word of mouth happened on social media and online. Reading this pulled me in and made me want to understand why one-on-one conversations are still the biggest transmitter of word of mouth advertising. Berger goes on to use examples of restaurants and youtube stars that spread by people talking about them. He claims that through an immense amount of research, he has come up with the six "STEPPS" to a product "catching on." Each chapter will go in-depth into explaining the significance of the principles of social currency, triggers, emotion, public, practical value, and stories. I am excited to read these chapters not only because I am interested in the subject, but I also know that what he is explaining may be able to help me with spreading awareness of my projects, like the $200 dollar sticker project.