Making Content Contagious

Jonah Berger busts myths on why people share information

 In a recent Harvard Business Review podcast, Wharton Professor and author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On, Jonah Berger, revealed the results of a recent study on why things catch on online. 

So why do we share some information but feel disinclined to pass along other material?

As communicators we may intuitively know positive content is more easily shared than negative information. And naturally people like to share things that make them look smart, 'in the know' or ahead of the trends. 

Yet it seems that emotions are a bit more complicated than that.

Berger reports positive tends to be shared more often than negative information. Yet emotions like anger and anxiety can induce powerful reactions that impel us and others to share content.

Also it seems negative publicity is not always bad for a brand. Berger notes:

" What our research found is that even negative word of mouth, even negative publicity, can increase sales if it increases awareness or accessibility. For small businesses or products that most people don't know much about, even a negative can be a good thing because it lets other people know that the product exists. I'm not suggesting go out there and get negative word of mouth. But what I am saying is negative isn't always as bad as we think it is..." 

 And what about controversy?  Can that make your content contagious?  

PR practitioners know a little controversy can sometimes be very handy in causing conversations and drawing attention to an issue.  Yet this too is not clear cut.  Berger's research shows we might be ready to share controversial issues with those we know.  Yet we can hold back from passing along really controversial information - such as news on abortion, asylum seekers or political preferences - for fear of offending others or drawing hostile reactions particularly from those we don't know. 

So how do we best spread our information round? Do we frame our content as positive or negative, aim for controversy or avoid the difficult issues?

It seems making your content contagious really does require some deep thinking from the outset.

Listen to Jonah Berger's interview here.