mechanics to give people ways to achieve and provide visible symbols of
status that they can show to others.
Principle 2: Triggers
How do we remind people to talk about our products and ideas? Triggers
are stimuli that prompt people to think about related things. Peanut butter
reminds us of jelly and the word “dog” reminds us of the word “cat.” If you
live in Philadelphia, seeing a cheesesteak might remind you of the hundred-
dollar one at Barclay Prime. People often talk about whatever comes to
mind, so the more often people think about a product or idea, the more it
will be talked about. We need to design products and ideas that are
frequently triggered by the environment and create new triggers by linking
our products and ideas to prevalent cues in that environment. Top of mind
leads to tip of tongue.
Principle 3: Emotion
When we care, we share. So how can we craft messages and ideas that
make people feel something? Naturally contagious content usually evokes
some sort of emotion. Blending an iPhone is surprising. A potential tax hike
is infuriating. Emotional things often get shared. So rather than harping on
function, we need to focus on feelings. But as we’ll discuss, some emotions
increase sharing, while others actually decrease it. So we need to pick the
right emotions to evoke. We need to kindle the fire. Sometimes even
negative emotions may be useful.
Principle 4: Public
Can people see when others are using our product or engaging in our
desired behavior? The famous phrase “Monkey see, monkey do” captures
more than just the human tendency to imitate. It also tells us that it’s hard to
copy something you can’t see. Making things more observable makes them
easier to imitate, which makes them more likely to become popular. So we
need to make our products and ideas more public. We need to design
products and initiatives that advertise themselves and create behavioral
residue that sticks around even after people have bought the product or
espoused the idea.
Principle 5: Practical Value
How can we craft content that seems useful?
People like to help others, so if
we can show them how our products or ideas will save time, improve
health, or save money, they’ll spread the word. But given how inundated
people are with information, we need to make our message stand out. We
need to understand what makes something seem like a particularly good
deal. We need to highlight the incredible value of what we offer—
monetarily and otherwise. And we need to package our knowledge and
expertise so that people can easily pass it on.
Principle 6: Stories
What broader narrative can we wrap our idea in? People don’t just share
information, they tell stories. But just like the epic tale of the Trojan Horse,
stories are vessels that carry things such as morals and lessons. Information
travels under the guise of what seems like idle chatter. So we need to build
our own Trojan horses, embedding our products and ideas in stories that
people want to tell. But we need to do more than just tell a great story. We
need to make virality valuable. We need to make our message so integral to
the narrative that people can’t tell the story without it.
—————
These are the six principles of contagiousness: products or ideas that
contain
Social Currency and are
Triggered, Emotional, Public, Practically
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