What You'll Learn
🔹 What Is This Book About?
Why do some products, ideas, and videos go viral — while others disappear?
Why does some content get shared millions of times — while equally good content gets ignored?
The answer is NOT luck. NOT a big budget. NOT celebrity endorsement.
The answer = 6 specific, learnable principles that make anything contagious.
Berger spent 10 years studying thousands of products, campaigns, and ideas.
He discovered the STEPPS Framework — the science behind why things catch on.
🔹 The Core Message
Word of mouth is the most powerful marketing force in the world.
It is 10x more effective than traditional advertising.
And 93% of word of mouth happens face to face — not online.
Word of mouth is NOT random — it follows 6 predictable principles.
Learn these principles → make anything more contagious.
🔹 The STEPPS Framework — 6 Principles
📌 S — Social Currency People share things that make them look smart, cool, and in-the-know. Give people something exclusive and remarkable to share.
📌 T — Triggers People talk about what is top of mind. Link your product to everyday triggers people encounter regularly.
📌 E — Emotion People share things that make them feel something strongly. High arousal emotions — awe, excitement, humor, anger — drive sharing.
📌 P — Public People imitate what they can see. Make your product visible — design it to advertise itself.
📌 P — Practical Value People share useful information to help others. Create genuinely helpful content that people want to pass on.
📌 S — Stories People share stories — not information. Wrap your message in a story where your brand is integral and irreplaceable.
🔹 The 5 Big Ideas
Idea 1 — Virality is science — not luck. Every viral product or idea follows the STEPPS principles. Understanding them = you can deliberately engineer virality.
Idea 2 — Word of mouth beats advertising — every time. People trust recommendations from friends infinitely more than ads. Building word of mouth = the highest ROI marketing investment.
Idea 3 — Social currency is the #1 sharing motivator. People don't share for you — they share for themselves. Give them something that makes them look good → they share it everywhere.
Idea 4 — Triggers are underrated and incredibly powerful. A mediocre product with great triggers outperforms a great product with no triggers. Link your brand to something people encounter every single day.
Idea 5 — Stories are Trojan Horses. Information inside a story travels further and sticks longer than raw information. Make your brand integral to the story — not removable from it.
🔹 The Most Important Discovery
93% of word of mouth is offline — not online.
Most businesses obsess over social media shares and likes.
But the real word of mouth happens in kitchens, offices, and coffee shops.
Building a product or idea that people talk about in person = far more powerful than going viral online.
The STEPPS principles work for both online AND offline word of mouth.
🔹 What Makes This Book Different
NOT just theory — based on real scientific research from Wharton Business School.
Uses surprising, fascinating case studies — blenders, corn videos, secret bars, hot dogs.
Every principle is immediately actionable — you can apply it today.
Works for any business — small, large, product, service, nonprofit, personal brand.
Short and engaging — reads like fascinating stories — not a textbook.
Complements The Tipping Point — but goes deeper into the psychology of sharing.
🔹 Difference Between Contagious and The Tipping Point
📌 The Tipping Point (Gladwell) Focuses on who spreads ideas — Connectors, Mavens, Salesmen. More sociological — about people and environment.
📌 Contagious (Berger) Focuses on what makes things spread — the content itself. More psychological — about why people share specific messages. Based on rigorous academic research — not just case studies.
🔹 Who Is This Book For?
Entrepreneurs and marketers — who want their product to go viral.
Content creators — who want more shares, views, and followers.
Small business owners — who want word of mouth without a big budget.
Nonprofit leaders — who want their cause to spread.
Anyone who wants their ideas to catch on and spread.
🔹 How The Book Is Structured
Introduction — Why things catch on — the power of word of mouth.
Chapter 1 — Social Currency — share things that make you look good.
Chapter 2 — Triggers — link your product to everyday reminders.
Chapter 3 — Emotion — high arousal emotions drive sharing.
Chapter 4 — Public — make private behaviors visible.
Chapter 5 — Practical Value — share genuinely useful information.
Chapter 6 — Stories — wrap your message in a story.
Epilogue — Putting STEPPS together.
🔹 Why This Book Matters Today
We live in the most competitive attention economy in history.
Every business, creator, and idea is fighting for 3 seconds of attention.
Traditional advertising is losing trust — people skip ads and block pop-ups.
Word of mouth and sharing are more powerful than ever.
TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and WhatsApp are all word of mouth engines.
The STEPPS framework tells you exactly how to use them effectively.
🔹 Key Quotes
💬 "Word of mouth is the primary factor behind 20 to 50 percent of all purchasing decisions."
💬 "Contagious content is not born — it is built."
💬 "If something is built to show, it's built to grow."
💬 "People don't share information — they share stories."
💬 "The best marketing doesn't feel like marketing."
🎯 One-Line Summary
Things don't go viral by accident — they go viral because they give people social currency, trigger daily reminders, create strong emotions, are publicly visible, provide practical value, and are wrapped in an unforgettable story — master these 6 principles and make anything contagious.