Contagious: Why Things Catch On (opens in a new tab)[6]
Berger’s sharing principles describe several mechanisms that can help explain why people talk about and pass along ideas.
Life & background
Worldview
Berger applies behavioral science to explain how ideas spread and how change can happen by reducing barriers rather than pushing harder.
- Influence and sharing can be studied through behavioral evidence rather than explained only as luck.
- Different mechanisms—social currency, cues, emotion, visibility, usefulness, and stories—can shape sharing.
- When people resist change, reducing barriers can work better than increasing pressure.
- The popularity of ideas, products, and services can be examined through behavioral and social-science research.
- Sharing and influence have multiple drivers rather than a single explanation.
- For change, diagnosing and easing barriers can be more useful than simply increasing pressure.
Recurring themes
Social influence
Wharton identifies influence, word of mouth, and consumer behavior among Berger's research interests.
Ideas that spread
The STEPPS framework groups several mechanisms that can encourage people to share.
Change and resistance
The Catalyst and its REDUCE guide focus on barriers that make change difficult.
Why things catch on[2]
Berger’s Wharton course descriptions examine why products, services, and ideas become popular and how social dynamics shape success.
Social influence and behavior[4]
The official book description presents social influence as a force shaping choices and behavior.
Reducing barriers to change[3]
The official description of The Catalyst frames successful change as removing barriers and reducing friction rather than pushing harder.
Language and persuasion[4]
The official book listing describes words as tools for persuasion, communication, connection, and action.
Frameworks
STEPPS[6]
Six drivers of sharing: social currency, triggers, emotion, public visibility, practical value, and stories.
REDUCE[7]
A change framework that examines reactance, endowment, distance, uncertainty, and corroborating evidence as barriers to change.
Barrier reduction[3]
A change approach that identifies and removes barriers, reduces friction, and lowers hurdles to action.
Six principles of sharing[4]
The official description of Contagious says six basic principles help explain how products, initiatives, services, and ideas become popular; the supplied text does not enumerate those principles.
Counter-intuitive ideas
Choices are not explained only by personal preference[4]
The official description of Invisible Influence challenges the idea that choices and behaviors are driven only by personal tastes and opinions, stating that this view is wrong.
Pushing harder is not necessarily the path to change[3]
The official description of The Catalyst explicitly contrasts applying more force with removing barriers as a way to enable change.
Claims & evidence
Sharing has multiple drivers[6]
Berger describes STEPPS as six distinct principles that can help explain why people talk about and share ideas or products.
Change can be enabled by lowering barriers[3]
Berger's official description of The Catalyst centers on identifying and removing barriers rather than simply applying more force.
Selected work
The Catalyst (opens in a new tab)[3]
A guide to enabling change by identifying and reducing barriers.
Magic Words: What to Say to Get Your Way (opens in a new tab)[4]
The official listing presents the book as concerning how words can persuade, communicate, connect, and drive action.
The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone’s Mind (opens in a new tab)[3]
The official description presents an approach to change based on identifying and removing barriers rather than pushing harder.
Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces that Shape Behavior (opens in a new tab)[4]
The official listing describes the book as addressing how influences beyond personal thoughts and opinions shape choices and behavior.
SkimPod briefs
The Catalyst: A Three-Part Executive Brief
Why Pressure Often Backfires
When a change is not happening, the instinct is often to turn up the pressure: make the case more forcefully, repeat the message, or push for a decision. But resistance does not always mean people have failed to understand the proposal. Sometimes the way we…
Excerpt · continue in the full SkimPod player
Make the Change Feel Reachable
Once you have identified that pressure itself may be getting in the way, the next question is more specific: does the proposed change feel close enough, and clear enough, for someone to consider? Jonah Berger’s REDUCE framework calls these two barriers…
Excerpt · continue in the full SkimPod player
Original source: The Catalyst: A Three-Part Executive Brief (opens in a new tab)
Evolution over time
- 2017
Wharton professor[1]
A Wharton Magazine profile reported that Berger was finishing his tenth year as a marketing professor at the Wharton School.
People and ideas in conversation
Jordan Etkin[1]
Wife
The 2017 Wharton Magazine profile identifies Jordan Etkin as Berger’s wife and an associate marketing professor at Duke University.
Recent appearances
Meet the Authors: Wharton’s Jonah Berger on How to Change Anyone’s Mind (opens in a new tab)
The Meet the Authors series host Peter Fader talks with Berger about The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone’s Mind.
Quote vault
“When we care, we share.”
[6]
References
- [1]Inside the Curious Mind of Jonah Berger — magazine.wharton.upenn.edu (opens in a new tab)
- [2]Jonah Berger – Marketing Department — The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (opens in a new tab)
- [3]The Catalyst | Jonah Berger — Jonah Berger (opens in a new tab)
- [4]Books | Jonah Berger — jonahberger.com (opens in a new tab)
- [5]Wikidata (opens in a new tab)
- [6]Knowledge at Wharton interview (opens in a new tab)
- [7]The Catalyst — official guide (opens in a new tab)
- [8]Open Library (opens in a new tab)Open Library
- [9]Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab)Jonah Berger
- [10]Meet the Authors: Wharton’s Jonah Berger on How to Change Anyone’s Mind — knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu (opens in a new tab)knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu · 2021-03-19
- [11]Public SkimPod brief: The Catalyst: A Three-Part Executive BriefSkimPod public brief
- [12]Apple Podcasts (opens in a new tab)Apple Podcasts