In the text, Contagious: Why Things Catch On, Jonah Berger breaks down the novel into six subcategories. The book is logically organized and clearly demonstrated the meaning of each subcategory by giving examples of each. These categories are given the acronym STEPPS, which stands for social currency, triggers, emotion, public, practical value, and stories. Berger explains these six categories in depth. It was really interesting to see why people do what they do. While reading these examples, I realized that we go through everyday life trying to make ourselves look good whether it would be the way we dress or changing our personality. Berger allowed his audience to put a name to each category and demonstrated with examples, which made it very clear to understand. I really enjoyed the book because I felt Berger had a great sense of humor. He would link a small quote to each category that really stuck with the reader. I think overall this helped contribute to a better grasp on the information. For the public category, he said, “monkey see, monkey do” which I felt was the perfect description. If people start wearing yellow live strong bracelets, you obviously can’t be the person without one, hence you almost feel obliged to purchase one.
What I took away from this book is being able to look at these examples and categories from a business point of view. As a consumer I definitely feel more informed with why things actually do catch on, but as a business student I feel that I now understand how business may be able to use these concepts to increase their efficiency. This book gave me insight on how businesses can use these categories especially in their marketing department because growing up we have only been exposed to the consumer side. One great example I was thinking of while reading this book was Uber, which I feel hits multiple concepts discussed in the text. Uber hits social currency because if you give your code away then you’re giving people a twenty-dollar credit to a ride, so it makes you look good. It partially triggers emotions as well because you’re helping someone and they are helping you back. They help you by using your code and giving you a twenty-dollar free ride. The main reason for the giving the code is obviously for the selfish motive of getting a free ride, however, it is a mutual benefit. In addition, Uber targets the public category. Uber cars have signs in their windshield to market their service. They also give people free rides with different codes. Practical value is the last category I feel Uber hits because sharing that code for the free rides gets contagious and that is how Uber grows as a company.
Overall this book was a great read because it was straightforward and conceptually easy to understand. I would recommend this book to people in different majors because it can apply them, not just marketing students. As a consumer I feel like I am more aware and knowledgeable of my actions when I am considering purchasing products. After reading this book I was curious as to who this guy was and how he came about writing such a unique and captivating novel. After I read the book, I watched a few videos on Jonah Berger. In the videos, he was asked questions that readers may come across when reading his book. I believe working in a group to present the book helped me see insights from my peers that I may not have caught when I was reading the book. I feel that discussing our thoughts helped each of us understand the full context of the text. This book definitely deserves a ten out of ten!