Why do certain products, services, or stories go viral? How can we make our own work contagious?

These are questions Wharton Professor, Jonah Berger, answers in his bestselling book, Contagious: Why Things Catch On. In this fascinating interview, he explains his six-part framework and discusses the behaviors that drive us to make certain ideas, products, and services contagious.

In this episode you will learn:



how to apply these techniques to your own work






what made the video for a seemingly humdrum product - a blender - go viral






which emotions drive us to share and which ones do not






what makes us spread the word for free






why you might suffer from the curse of knowledge and how you can avoid it
the critical difference between social media and word of mouth



Jonah also gives us a peek into his upcoming book on all the ways social influence drives our behavior. Fascinating stuff!

Links to Topics Mentioned in this Podcast

Beta testing

Social psychology

STEPPS Framework

Hooked: How to Build Habit-forming Products 

Geico ad for Hump Day

Curse of knowledge

Trojan Horse

Social influence

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Thank you to Emmy-award-winning Creative Director Vanida Vae for designing the Curious Minds logo!

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