Triggers: Thoughts to talks

In a world where trends and social media dominate everyday life, calling something "viral" is becoming more common. But what is it that makes the most viral challenges or posts on social media so big? According to Jonah Berger, there are six reasons why. These six reasons follow a model known as STEPPS, found in Berger's book Contagious, that establishes principles as to how and why things catch on the way that they do. While each of these principles has strong influence on how something catches on and becomes viral, this article will only focus on one of the STEPPS. This principle takes on an interesting approach, where a person comes up with a thought and it reminds them of a specific product, object, etc. This is known as a "trigger," the T in STEPPS. Berger defines a trigger this way, "Top of mind leads to tip of tongue."

Triggers give us reminders.

A point of emphasis for Berger in discussing triggers is that it brings up discussion. People talk about the things they think about. Think about some of the most popular commercials. Whether it's GEICO's gecko campaign, or the growth of Caveman and the other characters that GEICO has introduced, or if it's Progressive's newest ad campaign of Dr. Rick helping new homeowners overcome the traits of turning into their parents. In the case of Progressive, these ads have become the most popular not only due to the comedic effect that they have, but also of the truth that can lie within these ads. If someone were watching Progressive's ads with Dr. Rick for the first time, for example the one where he takes a group of his patients to the grocery store and one of them takes a phone call and puts it on speaker phone. If someone saw that commercial, then caught themselves doing that same thing, the thought of that commercial enters the mind.

As someone might be able to tell from looking at my LinkedIn profile, I'm a big sports guy. So, I can't continue on with this article without bringing up a sports example. As a sports broadcaster, there's multiple ways to go at this concept. Working in a movie quote in illustrating a point (which I have done a few times) is a way of applying triggers. One that was most common during the NFL season was the arrival of Taylor Swift. This example can also bend a few ways. With Taylor Swift now making a full presence of the National Football League, the first person most people think of in the NFL is Travis Kelce, which can connect people to the Kansas City Chiefs. And, depending on if the person that thinks of Swift or Kelce is a sports fan, then they have their feelings and thoughts about the Kansas City Chiefs and their Super Bowl run this season.

In referencing back to the sports broadcaster example, a signature line from a broadcaster triggers someone to think of just about anything. One of the most iconic calls from a play-by-play announcer is Mike Breen's "Bang!" anytime a player makes a big shot. For basketball fans, everyone has been on both sides of the "Bang!" call, whether it happened for their team or against their team. No matter which way one's feelings break after hearing that iconic word, it stays in our minds. People even get the feeling of that word being used whenever the NBA Playoffs or even the Finals happen. Being a fan of a specific team and hearing that call can give any kind of fan all kinds of memories. If they are a Miami Heat fan, then they'll get the memory of Ray Allen's game-tying shot in game six of the 2013 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. For Heat fans, it's a positive memory. For Spurs fans, not so much. For Oklahoma City Thunder fans, Steph Curry's near half-court shot to beat the Thunder brings memories. Those memories being negative for Thunder fans, of course.

In tying all of this together, social media has been one of the most prevalent places where these memories come back to us. Whenever a big play such as Allen's three-pointer to keep Miami's hopes alive circles back to social media, people recreate those memories for themselves. This is just the beginning for Berger's discussion on triggers, as once these thoughts are made people will start talking about them. In the case of social media, they might find a post of a flashback to something big, sports related or not sports related, and send it to their friends or family. This is what creates the trigger effect and how it spreads.

Thoughts turn into talks.

Phase two of this journey is the spreading of information. We are at the point now where the thought is planted, someone either sees something on social media or it simply just pops back into their head. That itself is the trigger, but in further enhancing this to Berger's perspective, there's the discussion part. Berger points out that more products and ideas should act as triggers and create new triggers that are linked to previous ones. The focus on environment is crucial in this discussion, as if an audience that is linked to the same environment as what the product or post is showing, there is a higher chance that that product will be talked about more than compared to an audience that isn't as involved in that particular focus or topic.

Let's go back to the many sports examples provided earlier. In social media, the comment section is where these thoughts are first seen. These are the initial reactions of those seeing the post and the viewer displaying their thoughts right away. Some moments get posted more than others, such as Alec Martinez's game-winning goal in game five of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final to win the cup for the Los Angeles Kings over the New York Rangers. Many different accounts across social media were posting this play, some even posted it multiple times within a month or two apart, and viewers quickly got annoyed. The common comment of an annoyed social media user complaining about seeing a play, regardless of how big it was, multiple times, would be shown. In referencing this back to Berger, this is continuing the conversation and further forcing out a trigger of that user. But this is only one way that social media creates triggers, specifically in the discussion part. There's the initial comment from a gut reaction of a user, and there's the reposting feature. This feature is the main catalyst for what makes something viral. Someone sees something that looks interesting, and they show it to the people that follow them. The more likes and reposts that it gets, the more viral it gets. In answering the question from the first paragraph, what makes things so viral on social media is the user's need to share their opinion on what they saw. Thoughts leads to talks. The user gets the thought, and they want to share it. The second phase of this dynamic of triggers is what creates the "viral" aspect of something, and more and more people talking about a specific product or post.

Thoughts + Talks = Viral

Things catch on because of how frequently people talk about them. Through all of the sports examples used in this article, each one of these, and many others that weren't referenced, get talked about very frequently among sports fans. Going back to the Los Angeles Kings example, their goaltender that season, Jonathan Quick, is now playing for the New York Rangers. When he first joined the Rangers, Rangers fans were quickly reminded of how much of a nightmare he was against them in the final. Anytime an old highlight gets reposted on social media, it sparks the memories which then leads to the discussion. It is through that discussion that things begin to catch on, and social media has played one of the most significant parts in making that happen. In reference back to the Dr. Rick example from the Progressive commercials, these are an easy way to start up discussion for those in the same environment that have seen the ads. Berger puts a big emphasis on environment, and with not only Dr. Rick or any sports example, environment is pivotal in the spread of something. All it can take for something like that, in the case of Dr. Rick, is a quote from a commercial, and the person or people that the user is communicating this to will get the reference. Something as short or simple as, "Let's imagine LL Cool J has a bubble around him...HEY I'M KEITH!" can spark the thoughts and discussion. Simply put, what makes something viral, in tying this back to Berger's definition of triggers, is the thought of something, that evolves into discussion. It's a main catalyst in making something viral, and why things catch on.

THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN FOR GMU'S COMM 384 COURSE - PR AND SOCIAL MEDIA