Contagious: Why Things Catch On

One group of students saw the slogan “Live the healthy way, eat five fruits and veggies a day.” Another group saw “Each and every dining-hall tray needs five fruits and veggies a day.” Both slogans encouraged people to eat fruits and vegetables, but the tray slogan did so using a trigger. The students lived on campus, and many of them ate in dining

Biologists often talk about plants and animals as having habitats, natural environments that contain all necessary elements for sustaining an organism’s life. Ducks need water and grasses to eat. Deer thrive in areas that contain open spaces for grazing. Products and ideas also have habitats, or sets of triggers that cause people to think about the

FROM MARS BARS TO VOTING: HOW TRIGGERS AFFECT BEHAVIOR

The actual number is 7 percent. Not 47 percent, not 27 percent, but 7 percent. Research by the Keller Fay Group finds that only 7 percent of word of mouth happens online.

ARE SOME THINGS JUST BORN WORD-OF-MOUTH WORTHY?

STUDYING SOCIAL INFLUENCE

SYSTEMATICALLY ANALYZING THE MOST E-MAILED LIST

MAKING THE PRIVATE PUBLIC . . . WITH MOUSTACHES

Facebook and Twitter are technologies, not strategies. Word-of-mouth marketing is effective only if people actually talk.

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