Why Things Catch On: The Six Drivers of Sharing with Jonah Berger

Overview

In this Speaking of Psychology episode, host Kim Mills talks with Dr. Jonah Berger, a leading researcher on word-of-mouth and social influence. Berger presents a science-based framework for why people share content, products, and ideas, highlighting six psychological drivers that govern social transmission.

Key takeaways include the six steps (SEPS) that compel sharing: social currency, triggers, emotion, public, practical value, and stories. Berger emphasizes that high arousal emotions, not just positive ones, tend to drive sharing, and that online and offline word of mouth operate under similar drivers but in different contexts. The conversation also covers how misinformation spreads and how to design content that is more likely to be shared truthfully, plus how technology has changed the landscape of sharing.

Introduction and the Core Question

The podcast opens with an overview of a common online behavior: the impulse to share information that feels compelling, whether it is a funny video, a news story, or a new phrase. Kim Mills introduces Dr. Jonah Berger, a Wharton professor and a leading expert on word-of-mouth and social influence. Berger emphasizes that shares rarely happen by luck; rather, there is a science behind what takes off in networks of conversations, texts, and social media. He introduces a six-factor framework—SEPS—that explains why people talk about and pass along content. He stresses that the purpose of this framework is not restricted to products or services, but applies to ideas, messages, and experiences, and that the social transmission can differ online and offline while still being governed by the same psychological principles.

The Steps Framework: SEPS in Depth

The acronym SEPS stands for six key dimensions shaping why content is shared: social currency, triggers, emotion, public, practical value, and stories. Berger describes social currency as the drive to appear smart, knowledgeable, or in-the-know, using vivid examples to illustrate how people seek insider status by sharing information that makes them look good. He recounts the Please Don't Tell (PDT) secret bar in New York as an illustration of how secrecy and insider access create social currency, because access confers status and talking points among peers. Berger notes that people tend to share things that make them look good and avoid sharing things that make them look bad, a pattern visible in online posts that skew toward positive portrayals of life events and achievements over mundane or negative content.

Social Currency: Looking Good as a Share Catalyst

Berger explains that social currency is a powerful driver of sharing because people like to look clever, special, or in-the-know. The example of a secret restaurant and its hidden door into a secret bar demonstrates how exclusivity can transform a simple experience into shareable social currency. He emphasizes that the appeal of insider status can motivate people to share information that others may not have access to. One implication for communicators is to design content that allows readers to elevate their own status when sharing, rather than content that merely informs. The narrative also touches on how status is most effective when others recognize the status, so brand and message design should balance exclusivity with public recognition.

Quote 1 "The better something makes people look, the more likely they are to talk about and share it." — Dr. Jonah Berger

Triggers: Top of Mind, Tip of Tongue

Triggers are environmental cues that keep a topic top of mind and prompt discussion. Berger uses the Kit Kat coffee-break campaign to show how linking a product to a frequent routine increases recall and conversation. The goal is to embed cues in everyday environments that remind people to think about your content and share it with others. He highlights that triggers are not about changing how much someone likes something, but about making it more likely to be thought of and discussed in relevant moments. This insight has practical application for marketers and content creators who want to pair products or ideas with frequent, easily triggered contexts.

Quote 2 "Triggers is all about top of mind means tip of tongue. The more environmental reminders a person has, the more likely they are to think about and talk about something." — Dr. Jonah Berger

Emotion: High Arousal as a Driver of Shareability

The discussion then shifts to emotion, exploring whether all emotions are equally likely to be shared. Berger cites a study of the New York Times most emailed list, where content that evoked emotion tended to be shared more. Importantly, positive emotion generally increases sharing more than negative emotion, but not uniformly. Negative emotions, such as anger, can increase sharing if they induce high physiological arousal. The discussion details how awe, though positive, also drives sharing when it creates a broadened perspective. The key takeaway is not simply to elicit happiness, but to evoke high arousal states that motivate action, such as sharing, while recognizing that different emotions can drive the same outcome via arousal rather than valence.

Quote 3 "Any high arousal emotion, whether positive or negative, increased sharing." — Dr. Jonah Berger

Public: Visibility as Social Proof

Public is about making content observable in a way that others can imitate. Berger discusses the importance of social proof and visible cues that demonstrate others' engagement, thereby encouraging further sharing. If an idea is seen in public, more people are likely to share it, which creates a feedback loop that propels content further through networks. This dimension also ties into design choices for how a message is framed visually and contextually in order to maximize public exposure without sacrificing accuracy or integrity.

Quote 4 "Public visibility helps ideas spread because observable behavior serves as social proof." — Dr. Jonah Berger

Practical Value: Usefulness Trumps Vanity

Practical value concerns the tangible benefits a message offers, such as actionable tips, guidance, or how-to information. Berger notes that content considered useful or easily actionable tends to be shared more because it provides immediate benefits to others. The practical value dimension often intersects with social currency, as information that is both useful and prestigious to share increases its adoption and spread across networks. Communicators should emphasize clear takeaways and practical steps, making it easy for audiences to apply or relay the information to others.

Stories: Transmission through Narrative

The final driver, stories, emphasizes that content wrapped in compelling narratives travels further because stories are memorable, portable, and emotionally engaging. Berger discusses how stories serve as vehicles for information, enabling people to convey complex ideas through relatable, structured narratives. A well-told story can carry factual content and make it more shareable by aligning with the listener’s experiences and values.

Emotion and Arousal in Practice

Berger argues that content often fails to spread when it merely induces contentment because it lacks activation. He emphasizes that high-arousal experiences, whether humorous, angry, or awe-inspiring, are more likely to spread than content that simply feels good. This has practical implications for creators aiming to design shareable content that aligns with ethical considerations and truthfulness while leveraging high-arousal elements to encourage sharing in a responsible way.

Online vs Offline Word of Mouth: A Contextual View

The host and guest discuss how online platforms enable rapid diffusion but also shape the kinds of information that are shared. Berger notes that online sharing often involves a threshold question—what is good enough to share—whereas offline conversations are more affected by what is top of mind and the immediacy of a question. He explains that online and offline sharing are driven by the same underlying psychological drivers, but platform mechanics and audience size influence how those drivers manifest in practice.

Fighting Viral Misinformation with a Brussels Sprouts Mindset

Turning to misinformation, Berger compares the challenge to making Brussels sprouts appealing instead of a cheeseburger. He argues that good information does not automatically triumph; it must be cooked in a way that fits how people choose to share information. This includes designing content that preserves truth while increasing social currency, triggering cues, and emotional engagement. The aim is to improve the shareability of credible information so that it competes effectively with misinformation in an attention-scarce media ecosystem.

Quote 5 "Good stuff isn't enough, but I am saying think about how you cook the Brussels sprouts, how you make the information easier to share and more appealing to transmit." — Dr. Jonah Berger

Repetition, Platforms, and Multimodal Research

Berger touches on repetition as a factor in perceived believability while acknowledging its potential to annoy audiences if overused. He cautions against viewing misinformation and truth as fundamentally separate categories and suggests focusing on the sharing dynamics that drive transmission of all information. Technology is expanding the tools for research, from traditional word-count methods to modern multimodal analysis that integrates language, audio, and visual cues. Berger highlights work on topics like how hand movements in TED Talks correlate with audience engagement, illustrating how multimodal signals contribute to message effectiveness and the spread of ideas.

Quote 6 " repetition can make some information more believable, but there is more to it than repetition alone" — Dr. Jonah Berger

Current and Future Research Directions

Looking forward, Berger discusses the complexity of how ideas combine across language, audio, and visual modalities. His current projects include exploring how influencers convey empathy through both speech and body language, and examining what exactly is being sold when content is distributed to audiences. He stresses that the best-suited messages are those that add clear value for the audience, rather than simply being good content, and that practical communication strategies can help truthful information spread more effectively in a crowded information environment.

Takeaways for Listeners

The episode concludes with a practical takeaway: to make ideas catch on, communicators should consider the SEPS framework, craft emotionally engaging and high-arousal content, and design messages that provide social currency and clear benefits to audiences. Berger’s work emphasizes that understanding the psychology of sharing can help good ideas reach wider audiences, especially in an era where misinformation competes for attention on multiple platforms. This is not only about creating compelling content but also about designing it to be more transmissible while maintaining accuracy and integrity.

Author and Context

The discussion anchors Berger’s research in the broader history of word-of-mouth, building on earlier work in rumors and urban legends and highlighting the lasting relevance of social transmission theory beyond online platforms. The host and guest emphasize that while technology changes the speed and reach of sharing, the core motivations driving what we share remain anchored in social status, contextual reminders, emotional activation, and meaningful narratives.