@Amazonebook Contagious Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger
particularly important in domains where there are network effects, or
where the value of a product depends on the number of others who are
using it.
it’s called behavioral residue:
The term “behavioral residue” comes from
psychologist Sam Gosling. For a discussion of his research in the area,
see Gosling, Sam (2008), Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You (New
York: Basic Books).
“a stupid idea”: Mickle, Tripp (2009), “Five Strong Years,” Sports Business Daily,
September
14,
retrieved
from
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2009/09/20090914/Th
is-Weeks-News/Five-Strong-Years.aspx
.
Even Armstrong was incredulous: Carr, Austin (2011), “Lance Armstrong,
Doug Ulman Thought the Livestrong Wristband Would Fail,” Fast Company,
November
11,
retrieved
from
http://www.fastcompany.com/article/doug-ulman-didnt-think-the-
livestrong-bracelets-would-sell
.
This public visibility: Many things contributed to making Livestrong bands
a success. They cost only a dollar, making it easy for people to try out
being part of the movement, even if they weren’t sure they wanted to
commit themselves. The wristbands were also really easy to wear. Unlike
breast cancer ribbons, which you have to pin on different pieces of
clothing, Livestrong bands could be worn all the time. You could wear
one all day, keep it on while sleeping, even wear it in the shower. You
never had to take it off or remember where you left it. But color also
played an important role, as discussed.
“The nice thing about a wristband”: Interview with Scott MacEachern,
2006.
installing these buttons: Gelles, David (2010), “E-commerce Takes an
Instant Liking to Facebook Button,” Financial Times, September 21,
retrieved from
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/1599be2e-c5a9-11df-ab48-
00144feab49a.html
.
whether anti-drug ads were actually effective: Hornik, Robert, Lela
Jacobsohn, Robert Orwin, Andrea Piesse, and Graham Kalton (2008),
“Effects of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign on Youths,”
American Journal of Public Health 98, no. 12, 2229–36.
“30 billion songs were illegally downloaded”: Recording Industry
Association of America website,
http://www.riaa.com/faq.php
, retrieved
June 1, 2012.
people who stole petrified wood: Cialdini, Robert B., Linda J. Demaine,
Brad J. Sagarin, Daniel W. Barrett, Kelton Rhoads, and Patricia L. Winter
(2006), “Managing Social Norms for Persuasive Impact,” Social Influence 1, no. 1, 3–15.
5. Practical Value
If you had to pick someone: Interview with Ken Craig, February 20, 2012.
A clip of Ken’s corn trick can be seen at
http://jonahberger.com
.
Kahneman received the Nobel: For a popular treatment of prospect theory,
see Kahneman’s book Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011), from Farrar,
Straus and Giroux. For a more academic treatment, see Kahneman,
Daniel, and Amos Tversky (1979), “Prospect Theory: An Analysis of
Decision Under Risk,” Econometrica 47 (1979), 263–91. Many of the
scenarios discussed in this chapter are adapted from Richard Thaler’s
work on mental accounting. See Thaler, Richard (1980), “Toward a
Positive Theory of Consumer Choice,” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 1, 39–60; and Thaler, Richard (1985), “Mental
Accounting and Consumer Choice,” Marketing Science 4, 199–214.
To test this possibility: Anderson and Simester’s research can be found at
Anderson, Eric T., and Duncan I. Simester (2001), “Are Sale Signs Less
Effective When More Products Have Them?” Marketing Science 20, no.
2, 121–42.
buy a new clock radio: Adapted from Thaler, “Toward a Positive Theory of
Consumer Choice,” 39–60.
While noting something is on sale: A good deal of research has examined
how saying something is on sale affects perceived value. For examples,
see Blattberg, Robert, Richard A. Briesch, and Edward J. Fox (1995),
“How Promotions Work,” Marketing Science 14, no. 3, 122–32; Lattin,
James M., and Randolph E. Bucklin (1989), “Reference Effects of Price
and Promotion on Brand Choice Behavior,” Journal of Marketing Research 26, no. 3, 299–310; and Raju, Jagmohan S. (1992), “The Effect
of Price Promotions on Variability in Product Category Sales,” Marketing Science 11, no. 3, 207–20. For an empirical investigation of how sale
signs affect purchase, see Anderson and Simester, “Are Sale Signs Less
Effective,” 121–42.
quantity purchase limits increase sales: Inman, Jeffrey J., Anil C. Peter, and
Priya Raghubir (1997), “Framing the Deal: The Role of Restrictions in
Accentuating the Deal Value,” Journal of Consumer Research 24 (June),
68–79.
This increases Practical Value: For evidence on how restrictions on who
can get access to a deal affect perceived value, see Schindler, Robert M.
(1998), “Consequences of Perceiving Oneself as Responsible for
Obtaining a Discount: Evidence for Smart-Shopper Feelings,” Journal of Consumer Psychology 7, no. 4, 371–92.
whether a discount seems larger: For evidence that perceived value is
affected by absolute and relative discounts, see Chen, S.-F. S., K.B.
Monroe, and Yung-Chein Lou (1998), “The Effects of Framing Price
Promotion Messages on Consumers’ Perceptions and Purchase
Intentions,” Journal of Retailing 74, no. 3, 353–72.
You may have heard: See the following for a discussion of the link between
vaccines and autism and the consequences of the false information:
McIntyre, Peter, and Julie Leask (2008), “Improving Uptake of MMR
Vaccine,” British Medical Journal 336, no. 7647, 729–30; Pepys, Mark
B. (2007), “Science and Serendipity,” Clinical Medicine 7, no. 6, 562–78;
and Mnookin, Seth (2011), The Panic Virus (New York: Simon and
Schuster).
6. Stories
battle took place around 1170 BC: Estimates of the timing of the Trojan
Horse come from this paper: Baikouzis, Constantino, and Marcelo O.
Magnasco (2008), “Is an Eclipse Described in The Odyssey?”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105, no. 26, 8823–28.
Stories . . . help us make sense of the world: Baumeister, Roy F., Liquing
Zhang, and Kathleen D. Vohs (2004), “Gossip as Cultural Learning,”
Review of General Psychology 8, 111–21.
we’re much more likely to be persuaded: For research related to how stories
can make it harder to counterargue, see Kardes, Frank R. (1993),
“Consumer Inference: Determinants, Consequences, and Implications for
Advertising,” in Advertising Exposure, Memory and Choice, ed. Andrew
A. Mitchell (Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum), 163–91.
He lost all that weight: See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jared_Fogle
for an
overview of the Jared story.
So he created a short film: The backstory came from an interview with Tim
Piper on June 18, 2012. The “Evolution” video can be seen at
http://jonahberger.com
.
2 percent of women describe themselves as beautiful: This fact comes from
Etcoff, Nancy, Susie Orbach, Jennifer Scott, and Heidi D’Agostino
(2004), The Real Truth About Beauty: A Global Report; retrieved on June
1,
2012,
from
http://www.scribd.com/doc/16653666/1/%E2%80%9CTHE-REAL-
TRUTH-ABOUT-BEAUTY-A-GLOBAL-REPORT%E2%80%9D
.
double-digit sales growth:
See
http://www.marketingvox.com/dove_evolution_goes_viral_with_triple_th
e_traffic_of_super_bowl_spot-022944/
retrieved on May 15, 2012. Also
see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_%28advertisement%29
.
Canadian Ron Bensimhon: