The Six Insider’s Secrets of Contagious Content
In Contagious: Why Things Catch On, Jonah Berger, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, explores the secret science behind word-of-mouth and social transmission. While many people attribute the success of a product or a viral video to luck, a massive advertising budget, or a lower price point, Berger’s research suggests otherwise. He argues that things catch on because they are engineered to do so through specific psychological drivers.
Traditional marketing often focuses on the messenger—finding the right influencer or the most connected person to spread the word. However, Berger posits that the message itself is far more important. If a product or idea is built using the right principles, it will spread regardless of who is talking about it. This shift in perspective moves virality from the realm of art and intuition into the realm of data and behavioral science.
By analyzing thousands of pieces of content from New York Times articles to consumer products, Berger identifies six key principles collectively known as the STEPPS framework that drive many things to become contagious.
The STEPPS Framework for Virality
The STEPPS framework is a tactical toolkit for understanding why people share. It is not limited to digital content; these principles apply to policy initiatives, workplace rumors, and even the names we choose for our children. To make an idea contagious, it must incorporate elements of Social Currency, Triggers, Emotion, Public visibility, Practical Value, and Stories.
Social Currency
Social Currency is the idea that people share things that make them look good to others. Just as the car we drive or the clothes we wear signal our status, the things we talk about function as a form of currency. We want to seem smart, cool, and in the know. If a brand can make its customers feel like insiders, those customers will naturally become its most vocal advocates.
There are three primary ways to generate Social Currency: finding inner remarkability, leveraging game mechanics, and making people feel like insiders.
Consider the example of Please Don’t Tell, a secret bar in New York City. To enter, you have to go into a hot dog stand, step into a vintage phone booth, and dial a specific number. There is no sign outside and no traditional advertising. Yet, it is one of the most popular bars in the city. Because the experience is hidden, anyone who knows about it feels like an insider. When they tell their friends, they aren’t just talking about a bar; they are showing off their own status as someone who knows the city’s best-kept secrets.
To apply this, ask how your product or idea is remarkable. What makes it stand out? If you can provide a way for people to look good while talking about your brand, they will do your marketing for you.
Triggers
While Social Currency gets people talking, Triggers keep them talking. A trigger is a stimulus in the environment that connects one idea to another. If Social Currency is the engine, Triggers are the fuel that keeps it running over the long term.
A classic example of a successful trigger is the 2007 Kit Kat campaign. For years, Kit Kat was just another candy bar. However, the brand decided to pair the snack with coffee. They created a series of ads featuring a Kit Kat sitting next to a cup of coffee with the tagline coffee’s best friend.
Because coffee is a frequent and habitual part of most people’s daily lives, it acted as a trigger. Every time a consumer saw or thought about coffee, they were subconsciously reminded of a Kit Kat. This connection boosted sales significantly because the trigger was prevalent in the environment.
In contrast, a brand that relies on a unique or rare trigger (like a 80% off sale that only happens once a decade) will only be talked about when that event occurs. To be contagious, you want to link your product to a stimulus that occurs frequently in your target audience’s daily routine.
Emotion
When we care, we share. However, Berger’s research reveals that not all emotions are equally effective at driving sharing. The key is physiological arousal. High-arousal emotions fire people up and drive them to take action, while low-arousal emotions can actually decrease the likelihood of sharing.
High-arousal positive emotions include awe and excitement. For example, when Susan Boyle first walked onto the stage of Britain’s Got Talent, the audience was skeptical. When she began to sing, the sheer unexpected talent sparked awe that compelled millions of people to share the video immediately.
On the flip side, high-arousal negative emotions like anger or anxiety also drive sharing. This is why polarizing news stories or articles about injustice often go viral. Conversely, emotions like sadness or contentment are low-arousal; they tend to make us turn inward rather than reach out to others.
If you want your content to be contagious, don’t just aim for a positive sentiment. Aim for an emotional response that gets the heart rate up. Whether it is the wonder of a new scientific discovery or the frustration of a common customer service pain point, high arousal is the catalyst for transmission.
Public
The principle of Public is based on the idea that built to show is built to grow. People have a natural tendency to imitate others, a psychological phenomenon known as social proof. However, we can only imitate what we can see. If an idea or behavior is private, it is much harder for it to spread.
One of the most famous examples of making the private public is the Movember Foundation. Men’s health issues are often a private struggle that people don’t discuss openly. By encouraging men to grow mustaches in November, the foundation turned private support for a cause into a very public, visible signal. The mustache acts as a conversation starter, making the invisible visible.
Apple famously applied this principle by redesigning its headphones. At a time when all headphones were black, Apple introduced bright white earbuds. This made it immediately obvious to everyone on the street who was using an iPod. The white cord served as a public advertisement for the product, even when the device itself was tucked away in a pocket.
To make your product contagious, you need to create behavioral residue—some physical or visible trace that remains even after the interaction is over.
Practical Value
While Social Currency is about the sender looking good, Practical Value is about helping the receiver. People like to pass along useful information because it strengthens their social bonds and provides genuine help to their peers. This is the most straightforward pillar of the STEPPS framework.
Practical Value is often expressed as life hacks, health tips, or financial advice. For example, look at the viral success of a simple YouTube video titled How to shuck corn. In the video, an elderly man demonstrates a clean, efficient way to remove corn silk using a microwave. There was nothing flashy about the production, but because it solved a common, annoying problem, it was shared millions of times.
The key to Practical Value is packaging. You must make the information easy to digest and even easier to share. This often involves using lists, clear headlines, or news you can use. When people see something that is a great deal or a game-changer for their daily productivity, they feel a sense of altruism that drives them to hit the share button.
Stories
People do not think in terms of information; they think in terms of narratives. Stories are the original social media. Long before the internet, humans passed down culture, history, and survival tips through storytelling. A story provides psychological cover, allowing a message to be delivered without sounding like a sales pitch.
However, for a story to be effective for a brand, the brand must be an integral part of the plot. Berger uses the example of the Will It Blend? video series by Blendtec. In these videos, the company’s founder attempts to blend various objects, from golf balls to iPhones.
The videos are entertaining and tell a story of destruction and curiosity. But more importantly, you cannot tell the video’s story without mentioning the product’s core benefit: its incredible power. The brand message—that Blendtec blenders are nearly indestructible—is the Trojan Horse inside the entertainment.
If your brand is just a passenger in a story, people will remember the story but forget the product. To be contagious, the product must be so deeply embedded in the narrative that the story cannot be told without it.
Understanding these six principles allows you to move beyond the hope of going viral and toward an intentional strategy of social influence. Whether you are launching a startup, managing a team, or trying to change public policy, the STEPPS framework provides a scientific foundation for getting your ideas to take hold. If you want to dive deeper into the case studies and data that prove these theories, you should pick up a copy of Contagious to start building your own word-of-mouth success today.
