Jonah Berger, the author of Contagious, studies online virality. He demonstrated that, “content that evokes high-arousal emotions (i.e., awe, anger, and anxiety), regardless of their valence, is more viral.” At its core this means two things. First, that content which performs best doesn’t just make you smile it makes you laugh out loud, it doesn’t make you sad it makes you cry. According to Berger’s study: “Virality is partially driven by physiological arousal. Content that evokes high-arousal positive (awe) or negative (anger or anxiety) emotions is more viral. Content that evokes low-arousal, or deactivating, emotions (e.g., sadness) is less viral.” Second the specific emotions that are most likely to drive engagement are the ‘three A’s’ - awe, anger, and anxiety. #marketingpsychology #contagious #contagiousbehavior #jonahberger