Episode Details

This week I talk to Jake Teeny about his research on word of mouth. When do people pass their opinions along to others? Jake tells me that businesses count word of mouth as a leading form of marketing, but it can be tricky to know exactly how to control it. We talk about when and why people share their opinions, according to the research in social psychology.

(By the way, Jake and I co-author a blog for Psychology Today called "A Difference of Opinion.")

Things we mention in the episode:

• Arousal increases social transmission of information (Berger, 2011)
• Certainty as a reason to persuade (Cheatham & Tormala, 2015)
• Hypocrisy as a form of cognitive dissonance (Stone & Fernandez, 2008)
• Atypical things are more popular (Berger & Packard, 2018)
• Hit Makers by Derek Thompson (Amazon)

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Learn more about Opinion Science and catch up on all the episodes at http://opinionsciencepodcast.com/.