Abstract:

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. This paper will report on an international validation study - designed to identify the contagious drivers of brands and advertising, celebrity culture and even religious icons, and to test the hypothesis that contagion is a now key predictor of commercial success.