38 Quotes by Jonah Berger

Research by the Keller Fay Group finds that only 7 percent of word of mouth happens online.

The mere fact that something isn’t readily available can make people value it more and tell others to capitalize on the social currency of knowing about it or having it.

Great game mechanics can even create achievement out of nothing. Airlines turned loyalty into a status symbol. Foursquare made it a mark of distinction to be a fixture at the corner bar. And by encouraging players to post their achievements on Facebook, online game makers have managed to convince people to proclaim loudly – even boast – that they spend hours playing computer games every day.

Contagious content is like that – so inherently viral that it spreads regardless of who is doing the talking.

A word-of-mouth conversation by a new customer leads to an almost $200 increase in restaurant sales.

As it turns out, if something is supposed to be secret, people might well be more likely to talk about it. The reason? Social currency. People share things that make them look good to others.

Advertising also plays a role. Consumers need to know about something before they can buy it. So.

But although quality, price, and advertising contribute to products and ideas being successful, they don’t explain the whole story.

If word-of-mouth pundits agree on anything, it’s that being interesting is essential if you want people to talk. Most buzz marketing books will tell you that. So will social media gurus. “Nobody talks about boring companies, boring products, or boring ads,” argues one prominent word-of-mouth advocate. Unfortunately, he’s wrong.