Contagious

The author’s goal is to understand buzz in order to reproduce it. He clearly positions himself against the theory which attributes this phenomenon to opinion leaders. Spending millions to reach key influencers in hopes of creating buzz is a mistake, in his mind, because our purchasing decisions are primarily influenced by informal conversations and discussions with our peers.

The author identifies six key drivers that support buzz, such as the desire to be helpful. He also cites a publisher who sent him two copies of a book, explicitly asking him to give the second copy to another professor. Jonah Berger was thus easily able to share the book and feel useful to both the publisher and his colleague. Whether or not the book was really special had little importance; the publisher created an opportunity to talk about it!

The key drivers identified by the author are not always particularly original—storytelling is abundantly cited, for example—but are analyzed in great detail. This helps to understand the mechanisms that trigger buzz and the key success factors, and hence facilitates the implementation of supporting initiatives.

A very pleasant book to read, written in a direct style and full of often humorous and always interesting illustrative examples.