Contagious Why Things Catch On

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
A
ABC News, 
149
Abercrombie & Fitch, 
142
Ad Age
, 
119
Advertising, 
2
, 
4
–7, 
16
, 
19
, 
32
, 
125
, 
187
, 
208
emotions evoked by, 
117
, 
123
infomercials, 
164
–65
misleading, as Trojan horse, 
190
–91
self, through public visibility, 
140
–44 (
see also
Branding)
social currency of, 
37
, 
39
triggers and, 
62
, 
66
, 
70
, 
79
–85
trustworthiness of stories versus, 
186
virality of, 
22
, 
196
–98
word of mouth versus, 
8
–10, 
43
–44
see also
Public service announcements; 
campaigns for specific products
Airline frequent flier programs, 
44
–45, 
47
–48
Alcohol abuse, 
132
–35, 
139
–40
Allport, Gordon, 
199
–200
Amazement, 
22
, 
102
, 
188
Amazon.com
, 
8
American Airlines, 
45
Anderson, Eric, 
165
Anheuser-Busch, 
86
Antista, Chris, 
30
AOL, 
140
–41
Apple, 
125
–27, 
142
, 
153
“Think Different” campaign, 
109
Arab Spring, 
120
Archos, 
142
Arend, Rene, 
56
Arizona, University of, 
132
–33, 
140
ARK Music Factory, 
76
Armstrong, Lance, 
144
, 
145
Arousal, 
116
–18
physiological, 
108
–11
Atkins diet, 
4
Autism, 
99
false information on connection of vaccines and, 
176
Awards, 
51
Awe, power of, 
102
–8
B
Baby names, 
20
popular, 
5
–6
Babywearing, 
118
–19
Balter, Dave, 
62
–63, 
66
Barclay Prime (Philadelphia), 
1
–2, 
170
, 
210
hundred-dollar cheesesteak at, 
2
–4, 
22
, 
23
, 
25
, 
42
, 
88
–89, 
196
, 
206
, 
207
, 
210
Barn raising, 
159
Beauty, unrealistic standard of, 
191
–93

---

Beckham, David, 
3
Behavioral residue, 
24
, 
144
–49, 
153
, 
209
Bensimhon, Ron, 
193
–94, 
199