What Makes Online Content Go Viral?

There’s an assistant professor of marketing at the Wharton School of Business who specializes in discovering what makes ideas and products go viral. His name is Jonah Berger (follow him on Twitter here).

He’s been featured in many of the prestigious marketing research journals and publications like the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Economist and more.

So, suffice it to say, when he talks or writes, I listen.

Most recently, Jonah Berger co-authored a research paper with Katy Milkman called “What Makes Online Content Go Viral?” and in it, there are insights that you absolutely can’t overlook.

Here’s the highlights:

1. Positive content is more viral than negative content.

(Amazing, right? When you read the news, you’d think that negativity was a must, heh).

2. Content that evoked high arousal emotions—positive or negative—is more viral than content without emotion.

(What’s a high-arousal emotion? Think awe, anger, anxiety, or anything related to the fear of loss)

3. Practically useful content get’s shared.

(That makes sense, right? People like sharing practically useful content to help out their fans and friends)