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: Why We Share

The podcast introduces Dr. Jonah Berger from the Wharton School, a prominent researcher on word-of-mouth and how ideas spread. Berger explains that viral content is not random but follows stable psychological patterns observed across thousands of pieces of content and brands. The conversation centers on the Steps Framework (SEPS), a six-part map of why people share: Social Currency, Triggers, Emotion, Public, Practical Value, and Stories. Berger stresses that these drivers apply to both products and ideas, and that the motive to share often stems from how sharing makes the passer look to others.

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

Social Currency

Berger uses vivid examples to illustrate social currency, such as secret venues like Please Don't Tell in New York, which gain traction by being hard to access. Access to exclusive information makes people feel in the know, elevating their social status as insiders. The takeaway for communicators is to craft messages that elevate readers or viewers in their networks, making them appear clever or knowledgeable when they share.

Triggers

Triggers are environmental reminders that keep a topic top-of-mind. Berger cites Kit Kat's coffee-break association as an example of a trigger that links a brand to a frequent daily habit, increasing the likelihood of recall and sharing. The lesson is to design cues in the environment that prompt people to think about and talk about your product or idea.

Emotion

Emotion is a powerful driver of sharing, but Berger distinguishes arousal from merely positive or negative valence. High arousal emotions — whether anger, awe, humor, or excitement — are more likely to prompt sharing than content that feels merely positive. The discussion highlights that awe and anger, despite their opposite valence, both generate physiological arousal that motivates action, including sharing.

Public

Public visibility helps ideas spread because observable behavior serves as social proof. Berger emphasizes that making a concept or product more observable increases the chance others will imitate or discuss it, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of sharing.

Practical Value

Content that provides pragmatic, useful information tends to be shared, especially when it is framed in a way that is easy to act on. This value emerges in both online and offline contexts, and is amplified when the information is framed as something readers can apply themselves or share with others who will benefit.

Stories

Storytelling is a vehicle that makes information memorable and portable. Berger discusses how stories provide structure, emotion, and meaning that help content travel, with readers or listeners passing along narrative-rich information that feels personal and compelling.

Emotion and Action: The High-Arousal Effect

Berger delves deeper into how high arousal emotions drive sharing. He notes that content that elicits awe or anger tends to spread because it activates people to act. Conversely, content that is merely contentment or boredom may not motivate sharing, because it can feel deactivating. This has implications for both positive campaigns and those addressing contentious issues.

Online vs Offline Word of Mouth

The conversation contrasts online and offline word of mouth. Berger notes that online sharing often concentrates on threshold effects — whether something is good enough to share — while offline sharing is shaped by what is top of mind in conversation and the immediate social context. He also discusses how online platforms and different broadcasting styles shape what gets shared, including the difference between broadcasting to wide audiences and narrowcasting to smaller groups.

Fighting Misinformation

Berger addresses misinformation by reframing it as information transmission shaped by social forces. He suggests reframing truthful content to fit the same social transmission dynamics: enhancing social currency, employing triggers, and leveraging high-arousal emotion to encourage sharing of accurate information. The Brussels sprouts analogy is used to illustrate that even valuable content must be prepared in a way that resonates with audiences, or it may fail to gain traction amid competing, more appealing content.

Technology, Repetition, and Research Methods

The discussion covers how technology has expanded the toolkit for studying sharing, from early language processing to modern multimodal data analysis, including language, audio, and visual cues. Berger highlights that meaningful experimentation now often involves analyzing large datasets, using topic modeling, linguistic analysis, and movement at TED Talks to understand engagement. He also notes that repetition can influence believability, but it should be used thoughtfully to avoid fatigue.

What Berger is Working On

Looking ahead, Berger discusses research on multimodal communication, combining language with audio and visuals to understand empathy and audience impact in influencer contexts. He also raises questions about what we are really selling in messages and how to tailor communication to audiences to maximize the spread of credible information without sacrificing truth.

Conclusion

The episode emphasizes that good content must be designed with social transmission in mind, and that understanding the psychology of sharing can help both individuals and organizations communicate more effectively, even in the face of misinformation and rapidly changing media landscapes.