Contagious: Why Things Catch On

Jonah Berger is a professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, where his research focuses on social influence, consumer behavior, and the factors that drive cultural transmission. He earned his PhD in marketing from Stanford Graduate School of Business, following his undergraduate studies at Stanford University where he studied Human Judgment and Decision Making.

Before publishing Contagious in 2013, Berger established his academic reputation through research published in academic journals such as the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, and Psychological Science. His studies examined various aspects of social transmission, including how emotion affects sharing, what types of content become viral, and how social influence shapes consumer decisions.

Contagious emerged from a popular course Berger developed at Wharton titled “Contagious: How Products, Behaviors, and Ideas Catch On.” The book synthesized a decade of research into social transmission, presenting academic findings in an accessible format for business professionals and general readers. Upon release, it entered the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post bestseller lists, marking a successful transition from academic writing to mainstream business literature.

The book arrived at a pivotal moment in marketing history, as organizations grappled with the rise of social media and sought to understand viral phenomena.