Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger is an insightful study of what sort of information spreads. Conveyed with real-world examples, Contagious is at once analytical and practical. Berger explores the impact of social currency, triggers, emotions and more on the spreading and accepting of messages and information. This book is useful for marketers and propagandists alike.

For an added treat, try the audio book as read by Jonah Berger. This is one academic we’d love to hear present live.

Contagious: Why Things Catch On is available for purchase on Amazon.


About Author

La Generalista is the online identity of Alicia Wanless – a researcher and practitioner of strategic communications for social change in a Digital Age. Alicia is the director of the Partnership for Countering Influence Operations at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. With a growing international multi-stakeholder community, the Partnership aims to foster evidence-based policymaking to counter threats within the information environment. Wanless is currently a PhD Researcher at King’s College London exploring how the information environment can be studied in similar ways to the physical environment. She is also a pre-doctoral fellow at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, and was a tech advisor to Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder. Her work has been featured in Lawfare, The National Interest, Foreign Policy, and CBC.