Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: Why things catch on. Why $100 is a good price for a cheesesteak...Why do some things become popular?...Which is more important, the message or the messenger?...Can you make anything contagious?...The case of the viral blender...Six key STEPPS -- 1. Social currency. When a telephone booth is a door...Ants can lift fifty times their own weight...Why frequent flier miles are like a video game...When it's good to be hard to get...Why everyone wants a mix of tripe, heart, and stomach meat...The downside of getting paid...We share things that make us look good -- 2. Triggers. Which gets more word of mouth, Disney or Cheerios?...Why a NASA mission boosted candy sales...Could where you vote affect how you vote?...Consider the context...Explaining Rebecca Black...Growing the habitat: Kit Kat and coffee...Top of mind, tip of tongue --- 3. Emotion. Why do some things make the Most E-Mailed list?...How reading science articles is like standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon...Why anger is like humor...How breaking guitars can make you famous...Getting teary eyed about online search...When we care, we share ---

4. Public. Is the Apple logo better upside down than right side up?...Why dying people turn down kidney transplants...Using moustaches to make the private public...How to advertise without an advertising budget...Why anti-drug commercials might increase drug use...Built to show, built to grow---5. Practical value. How an eighty-six-year-old made a viral video about corn...Why hikers talk about vacuum cleaners...E-mail forwards are the new barn raising...Will people pay to save money?...Whey $100 is a magic number...When lies spread faster than the truth...News you can use -- 6. Stories. How stories are like Trojan horses...Why good customer service is better than any ad...When a streaker crashed the Olympics...Why some story details are unforgettable...Using a panda to make valuable virality...Information travels under the guise of idle chatter -- Epilogue. Why 80 percent of manicurists in California are Vietnamese...Applying the STEPPS.

In this book, Berger reveals the secret science behind word-of-mouth and social transmission. Discover how six basic principles drive all sorts of things to become contagious, from consumer products and policy initiatives to workplace rumors and YouTube videos. The book combines groundbreaking research with powerful stories. Learn how a luxury steakhouse found popularity through the lowly cheese-steak, why anti-drug commercials might have actually increased drug use, and why more than 200 million consumers shared a video about one of the seemingly most boring products there is: a blender. If you've wondered why certain stories get shared, e-mails get forwarded, or videos go viral, Contagious explains why, and shows how to leverage these concepts to craft contagious content. This book provides a set of specific, actionable techniques for helping information spread - for designing messages, advertisements, and information that people will share. Whether you're a manager at a big company, a small business owner trying to boost awareness, a politician running for office, or a health official trying to get the word out, this book will show you how to make your product or idea catch on.