Contagious

--- name: contagious description: 'Drive word-of-mouth and virality using the STEPPS framework (Social Currency, Triggers, Emotion, Public, Practical Value, Stories). Use when the user mentions "go viral," "word of mouth," "shareable content," "social currency," "why people share," "viral loop," "referral program," or "organic growth." Also apply when designing shareable features, crafting social media campaigns, or building products that spread through peer recommendations. Covers environmental triggers and emotionally charged content. For sticky messaging, see made-to-stick. For persuasion tactics, see influence-psychology.' license: MIT metadata: author: wondelai version: "1.2.0" --- # Word-of-Mouth & Virality Framework A framework for engineering word-of-mouth and making products, ideas, and content contagious, based on Jonah Berger’s research into why things catch on. Use it to design shareability into products, campaigns, and content instead of hoping for luck. ## Core Principle Virality is not born:it is engineered. Products spread because they were designed:consciously or not:to be shared. Only 7% of word-of-mouth happens online; the other 93% happens in offline conversations, so virality is about the psychology of sharing, not social media mechanics. Those psychological patterns are predictable and can be engineered into anything using the STEPPS framework. ## Scoring Goal: 10/10. Rate any product, campaign, content, or feature on a scale of 0:10 based on how many STEPPS drivers it activates and how effectively. Report the current score and the specific improvements needed to reach 10/10. ## STEPPS Overview Not a checklist:a multiplier. Each principle independently increases sharing; the most contagious ideas activate several at once, but even one or two done well dramatically increase word-of-mouth. | Principle | Core Question | Sharing Driver | |-----------|--------------|----------------| | S : Social Currency | Does sharing it make people look good? | Self-enhancement | | T : Triggers | What in the environment reminds people of it? | Top-of-mind accessibility | | E : Emotion | Does it spark intense feelings? | Physiological arousal | | P : Public | Can others see people using it? | Observational learning | | P : Practical Value | Is it useful enough to pass along? | Altruism and helpfulness | | S : Stories | Is the brand embedded in a narrative? | Entertainment and identity | ## The STEPPS Framework ### 1. Social Currency Core concept: People share things that make them look good:smart, cool, in the know. Make people feel like insiders, and they’ll spread it to boost their own image. Why it works: Brands and information are social signals; people don’t just share what they think:they share what makes them look good for thinking it. Key insights: - Remarkability : surprising, novel, or extreme things make the sharer seem interesting; "Did you know...?" is a powerful trigger for sharing - Game mechanics : leaderboards, badges, and status tiers create visible achievements that people want to show off - Exclusivity and scarcity : secret menus and invite-only access give people "insider knowledge" to share - Inner remarkability : even mundane products have a remarkable angle; it’s the framing, not the product Product applications: | Context | Application | Example | |---------|------------|---------| | Content platform | Insider statistics or year-in-review | Spotify Wrapped | | Mobile app | Shareable achievement cards | Duolingo streak badges | | B2B product | Benchmarking data users want to cite | HubSpot State of Marketing report | Copy patterns: - "Most people don't know that..." - "You're one of the first to try..." - "You've unlocked [achievement]..." Ethical boundary: Create genuine insider value, not false scarcity or manufactured exclusivity that fosters toxicity. See: references/ social-currency.md for exercises on creating remarkable experiences and game mechanics design. ### 2. Triggers Core concept: Top-of-mind means tip-of-tongue. Link your product to environmental cues:sights, sounds, times, routines