Contagious Why Things Catch On

MoneyWhys
because they provide Practical
Value, but passing them along boosts word of mouth for the company itself. People shared Dove’s
“Evolution” video because it evokes lots of Emotion, but by embedding itself in the narrative, Dove
benefits from the chatter as well.
If you want to apply this framework, here’s a checklist you can use to see how well your product or
idea is doing on the six different STEPPS.
Follow these six key STEPPS, or even just a few of them, and you can harness social influence and
word of mouth to get any product or idea to catch on.
One last note. The best part of the STEPPS framework is that anyone can use it. It doesn’t require a
huge advertising budget, marketing genius, or some sort of creativity gene. Yes, the viral videos and
contagious content we’ve talked about were created by particular individuals, but not all of them
were famous or could boast ten thousand followers on Twitter. They relied on one or more of the six
key STEPPS and this made their products and ideas more contagious.
Social
Currency
Does talking about your product or idea make people look good? Can you find the inner remarkability? Leverage game
mechanics? Make people feel like insiders? 
Triggers 
Consider the context. What cues make people think about your product or idea? How can you grow the habitat and make it
come to mind more often? 

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Emotion Focus on feelings. Does talking about your product or idea generate emotion? How can you kindle the fire? 
Public 
Does your product or idea advertise itself? Can people see when others are using it? If not, how can you make the private
public? Can you create behavioral residue that sticks around even after people use it? 
Practical
Value 
Does talking about your product or idea help people help others? How can you highlight incredible value, packaging your
knowledge and expertise into useful information others will want to disseminate? 
Stories 
What is your Trojan Horse? Is your product or idea embedded in a broader narrative that people want to share? Is the story
not only viral, but also valuable? 
Howard Wein needed a way to help a new restaurant break through the clutter, a way to raise
awareness while staying true to the Barclay Prime brand. The hundred-dollar cheesesteak did just
that. It not only provided a remarkable (Social Currency), surprising (Emotion) narrative (Story) but
also illustrated the type of quality product that the steakhouse offered (Practical Value). And the
prevalence of cheesesteaks in Philadelphia offered ready reminders for people to pass it on
(Triggers). The hundred-dollar cheesesteak got people talking and helped make Barclay Prime a
rousing success.
George Wright had almost no marketing budget. He needed a way to generate buzz about a product
most people wouldn’t ordinarily talk about: a blender. By thinking about what made his product
compelling and wrapping that idea in a broader narrative, he was able to generate hundreds of
millions of views and boost sales. The 
Will It Blend?
clips are amazing (Emotion) and remarkable
(Social Currency). But by making the product’s benefits (Practical Value) integral to a broader
narrative (Stories), the videos provided a perfect Trojan horse to get people talking about an
everyday household appliance and make Blendtec catch on.
Regular people with regular products and ideas. But by harnessing the psychology of word of
mouth, they were able to make their products and ideas succeed.
Throughout the book we’ve discussed cutting-edge science about how word of mouth and social
influence work. If you follow these six key STEPPS, you can make any product or idea contagious.

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Acknowledgments
Whenever I said I was writing a book, people often asked whether anyone was helping me. While I
did not have a co-author, that question was tough to answer because this book would never have
reached fruition without countless people’s help.
First, I want to thank my various collaborators over the years. People like Ezgi Akpinar, Eric
Bradlow, Dave Balter and the team at BzzAgent, Gráinne Fitzsimons, Raghu Iyengar, Ed Keller and
the folks at Keller Fay Group, Blake McShane, Katy Milkman, Eric Schwartz, and Morgan Ward,
without whom the papers I discussed in the book would not have been possible. Bright students like
Rebecca Greenblatt, Diana Jiang, Lauren McDevitt, Geneva Long, Keri Taub, and Jennifer Wu
helped support these projects. Malcolm Gladwell wrote the amazing book that sent me down this
road. Anna Mastri pushed me to be a better writer, and books by Seth Godin, Stanley Lieberson,
Everett Rogers, Emanuel Rosen, Thomas Schelling, and Jonathan Weiner inspired me to pursue this
line of research. A debt of gratitude also goes out to people like Glenn Moglen, who introduced me to
academic research; Emily Pronin, who introduced me to social psychology; Noah Mark, who
introduced me to sociology; and Lee Ross and Itamar Simonson, who said to always shoot for big
ideas. Thanks also to all my colleagues at Wharton and Stanford and all the teachers and staff at
Montgomery Blair High School and Takoma Park Middle School who taught me, and thousands of
other lucky kids, about the wonders of math and science.
Second, I want to thank the people who made the book itself possible. Dan Ariely, Dan Gilbert,
and Sarah Lehrer helped me understand what writing a book really meant. Alice LaPlante sharpened
the writing. Jim Levine and all of his colleagues at Levine Greenberg Literary Agency were guiding
lights throughout the process. Jonathan Karp, Bob Bender, Tracey Guest, Richard Rhorer, Michael
Accordino, and the rest of the team at Simon & Schuster helped form these ideas into a real book.
Anthony Cafaro, Colleen Chorak, Ken Craig, Ben Fischman, Denise Grady, Koreen Johannessen,
Scott MacEachern, Jim Meehan, Tim Piper, Ken Segall, Brian Shebairo, Howard Wein, and George
Wright took the time to share their stories with me. Various Wharton Executive EMBA students were
nice enough to provide feedback on the draft. The UPenn lunchtime soccer crew provided a welcome
break from writing. Maria Ana brought an eagle eye to revising. My brother, Fred, Danny, and the
whole Bruno family not only gave feedback on the drafts but reminded me why I was doing all of this
in the first place.
A few more people deserve special note. First, to Chip, who not only has been an advisor, mentor,
and friend, but has taught me most of what I know about writing and research: I cannot thank you
enough. Second, to Jordan for sticking through the process with me and being both a thoughtful editor
and a tireless champion, depending on what was needed. Third, to my parents, Diane Arkin and
Jeffrey Berger, not only for reading and supporting this project, but for laying the groundwork to make
it all possible. And finally, to my grandmother. For kicking off this journey and supporting me along
the way.

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