One way to generate surprise is by breaking a pattern people have come to expect.

As many observers have commented, today’s social-network-addicted people can’t seem to stop sharing—what they think, like, and want—with everyone, all the time.

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

More than ten thousand more people voted in favor of the school funding initiative when the polling place was a school. Polling location had a dramatic impact on voting behavior.

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

MAKING THE PRIVATE PUBLIC . . . WITH MOUSTACHES

Further, as the stories of Ken’s corn and the vacuum-discussing hikers illustrate, people don’t just value practical information, they share it. Offering practical value helps make things contagious.

It turns out that science articles frequently chronicle innovations and discoveries that evoke a particular emotion in readers. That emotion? Awe.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DEALS