Looking for the Fire not the Smoke: How the Social Brain Helps Us Understand Contagion

Maybe the biggest "buzz" in marketing currently is buzz itself. While advances in social media have made it the hot topic, why do some marketing ideas ignite and spread whilst others fizzle out? Contagious ideas stand out because they produce a ‘social' response that encourages us to share the idea with others.

Looking for the Fire not the Smoke: How the Social Brain Helps Us Understand Contagion

David Penn

LOOKING FOR THE ROOTS OF CONTAGION

Contagion is one of the hottest topics in marketing right now, and it's tempting to believe that it's a recent phenomenon – born in the age of the internet and social media. Yet people have always shared information and copied ideas; what's new is that Facebook, Twitter and all the rest have allowed us to share knowledge on a scale and at a rate undreamt of in the pre-internet age. It's also tempting to believe that contagion...

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