Contagious: Why Things Catch On (29 page)

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Authors: Jonah Berger

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It all started one Sunday afternoon:
For the backstory on the founding of Movember, as well as statistics on its growth and development, see
ca.movember.com
and
http://billabout.com/get-your-mo-on%E2%80%A8interview-adam-garone-movember-founder/
.

Johannessen was able to decrease heavy drinking:
For a related discussion, see Schroeder, Christine M., and Deborah A. Prentice (1998), “Exposing Pluralistic Ignorance to Reduce Alcohol Use Among College Students,”
Journal of Applied Social Psychology
28, 2150–80.

350 million users:
For basic details and statistics about Hotmail, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotmail
.

Apple’s white headphone cords stood out:
Such visible signals are 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/This-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_the_traffic_of_super_bowl_spot-022944/
retrieved on May 15, 2012. Also see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_%28advertisement%29
.

Canadian Ron Bensimhon:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3579148.stm
.

part of a publicity stunt:
For a brief discussion of the events, see BBC News (2004), “Jail Sentence for Tutu Prankster,” August 19.

most viewed online advertisement in history:
World Records Academy (2011), “Most Viewed Online Ad: ‘Evian Roller Babies’ Sets World Record,” retrieved May 2012 from
http://www.worldrecordsacademy.org
.

sales dropped almost 25 percent:
O’Leary, Noreen (2010), “Does Viral Pay?” retrieved May 21, 2011, from
http://www.adweek.com
.

In one spot a father is grocery shopping:
To watch the Panda clip, go to
http://jonahberger.com
.

without talking about a blender:
For further discussion of valuable virality, see Akpinar, Ezgi, and Jonah Berger (2012), “Valuable Virality,” Wharton working paper.

Psychologists Gordon Allport and Joseph Postman:
Allport, Gordon, and Joseph Postman (1947),
Psychology of Rumor
(New York: H. Holt and Company).

Epilogue

when Thuan Le arrived:
For the story of Thuan Le and the Vietnamese nail salons, see Tran, My-Thuan (2008), “A Mix of Luck, Polish,”
Los Angeles Times
, May 5. Also see
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2011/07/05/pkg.wynter.vietnamese.nail.salon.cnn
.

Cambodian Americans own:
Ardey, Julie (2008), “Cambodian Settlers Glaze a Donut Trail,”
Daily Yonder
, February 18; retrieved from
http://www.dailyyonder.com/cambodian-settlers-glaze-donut-trail/2008/02/18/1062
.

Koreans own:
Bleyer, Jennifer (2008), “Dry Cleaners Feel an Ill Wind from China,”
New York Times
, April 27.

60 percent of the liquor stores in Boston:
Retrieved on March 10, 2012, from
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/murder/peopleevents/p_immigrants.html
.

Jews produced:
Klinger, Jerry, “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming,”
America Jewish History 1880–1924
, retrieved on March 15, 2012, from
http://www.jewishmag.com/85mag/usa8/usa8.htm
.

Duncan Watts makes a nice comparison:
Watts, Duncan J. (2007), “Challenging the Influentials Hypothesis,”
WOMMA Measuring Word of Mouth
3, 207.

Index

ABC News,
149

Abercrombie & Fitch,
142

Ad Age
,
119

Advertising,
2
,
4
–7,
16
,
19
,
32
,
125
,
187
,
208