How ‘Surprise’ Helps Word-of-Mouth and Viral Marketing
Emotional engagement is the key to viral marketing success. People share their everyday experiences by communicating them to others in and outside of their network. This social sharing is more rampant when the individuals develop intense feelings like fear, disgust, sadness, joy, anger and surprise.
Of all these emotions, surprise is a necessary ingredient which encourages people to pass on information they come across. Now let’s look at what surprise is and its impact on viral marketing. As partial reference, I’ll use a study from the Journal of Economic Psychology, one that examines surprise and its relationship to word-of-mouth.
What is Surprise and What Causes it?
Many researchers consider surprise a neutral and short-lived emotion that is elicited by unexpected phenomena or what is known as a ‘‘schema discrepancy’’. A schema is a theory that each person has about the nature of situations, objects and reality. The disruption of this schema is what leads to the element of surprise:
In order to have a proper representation of reality, individuals continuously check whether their schema matches the inputs coming from the surrounding environment. This check is, however, relatively unconscious As soon as inputs diverge from the schema, surprise is elicited. Schema discrepancy is the one and only cognitive cause of surprise, but the latter may also be elicited by non-cognitive causes
In other words, surprise is an emotion that occurs when something breaks the habitual pattern of thoughts we have. Such a disruption may occur on a physiological level (e.g loud sounds) or it can be deeply mental (e.g. something that challenges your world view).
Surprise’s effects are immediate: An stronger focus of attention on the stimulus, a heightened consciousness, better retention of memory at the expense of other stimuli. All of which eventually result in curiosity and exploratory behavior. This arousal also intensifies subsequent reactions, the excitation from being surprised transfers over to other experiences.
After detecting the schema discrepancy, the individual will evaluate it: the emotion of surprise is often followed by a positive or negative emotion, what we normally call a pleasant surprise or an unpleasant surprise. An interesting point to note about surprise is that most people will assume that what is surprising to them will also be new/useful information for others.
Using Surprise to Generate Word-of-Mouth
Our everyday reactions to our environment is habitual. Going through the same shop in the mall, we select and purchase items with more or less neutral emotions. Buying a pair of shoes does not involve ’disruptive’ or ‘intense’ emotions. Nothing here encourages us to share this experience with others. But this can change if you add the element of surprise.
For example, if you’re offered an unexpected and attractive freebie (e.g. bottle of wine) along with the product, it short-circuits your schema and generates surprise. You’re now much more likely to talk about the pair of shoes you bought or your feelings about the boutique or brand.
The goal here is to think about ways to elicit positive surprise by enhancing the experiences of your audience in unexpected ways. Making them feel privy to an unique situation encourages them to share or recommend your idea/product/service/brand. What does this mean? Only that one needs to invest time on understanding your audience’s schemas.
Its important to note that surprise can be used as a tool in many ways. For instance, it can used in a stand-alone format, in the form of viral ad or online video with a single message or you can integrate it into your sales or fulfillment funnel. Think about each juncture when you interact with your customer and inculcate elements of surprise wherever necessary.
Surprise can be used in large scale million dollar, multi-media/multi-platform viral marketing campaigns (e.g. The Dark Knight) or in smaller, repeating gestures like birthday cards, freebies and other addons you can attach to the product/service. Viral campaigns are short-term and hence easier to sustain surprise, while other repeating initiatives may lose their power after the audience comes to expect specific behavior and hence, develop a new schema.
In the next post on viral marketing, I’ll like to look at various examples of ads and hopefully determine a generic formula that one can you use to elicit immediate word-of-mouth.
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I’m hoping to use curiosity and surprise on my site the day after tomorrow. I’ve been live for four weeks now, and I finally think I know what I’m doing.
Heh…I said that after I was live for four weeks too.
This is the first time i write a comment so i will try to not make a mistake. (Speking about grammar, i am Argentinian)
The page is excellent and all the content indside it is amazing too.
So here i finish the comment.
Bye
Francis Bean(from argentina)
Great post.
I am working on an online marketing campaign right now and we were incorporating ’surprise’ in it but I will definitely focus on doing it more on our core site itself in regards to user experience and implementing ’surprise’ elsewhere.
Not sure why I never thought of that before since it seems like such common sense. Well, as an article I recently read said, “applied common sense” is what really matters.
A very insightful look at the element of surprise in viral marketing, Maki.
Generating positive surprise within consumers is the ideal aim of the viral marketer. Better still is when this translates into a positive reaction to what you are offering, like a product or service.
I wonder whether you think that there is any benefit in creating negative surprise, Maki?
It is often said that there is no such thing as bad publicity in this day and age where any buzz at all about you is worth something.
Understanding psychology is certainly useful to getting the concept of viral marketing. The gentle massaging- some might say manipulation- of consumer psychology is indeed at the root of any successful campaign.
I also think that it’s helpful to combine an understanding of psychology with an awareness of human biology.
For example, if the viral marketer can implant the ‘germ of an idea’ in one consumer, the social nature of humans will lead to it spreading to susceptible individuals through social interaction. Just like a biological virus.
Understanding your audience’s schemas is identifying what makes them susceptible to this form of advertising.
But viral marketing campaigns do not take hold of every consumer- some are immune and will not pass it on via word of mouth. All that is needed, however, is to ‘infect’ enough of those who are susceptible and you have the perfect viral ad.
Interesting stuff, Maki! I look forward to reading where you take the subject next.
Thanks Maki for an excellent post.
Do what others don’t. Thats an easy way to surprise people and win attention. Let others in your industry set the tone and then be the one to disrupt it by being different.
Maki, I’m impressed by the quality of the post.
Keep up the good work!
Ooooo… “schema discrepancy”– I like it. It also helps to explain why spiritual masters use parables and koans as a story form to promote changed mindsets (and thus, changed behavior). The same schema discrepancy happens in the “twist” ending of most parables and koans.
I like the detail you’ve added on what exactly happens–the “tunnel vision” effect, for example.
Thanks for this very insightful post. I might think of using surprise and my word of mouth and viral marketing. This is a good read for any blogger or company marketer on the Internet.
Surprise makes us take action. We either want to share the beauty or complain about something that gave us a negative reaction.
I played Wii “Fit” for the first time last night and I was surprised by it’s futuristic interaction. In that moment I wanted one for myself. I went home that night and told my family of it’s wonderful features. That’s how great word of mouth sells products. We want to share these surprises with each other.
Another A+ article!
Of course surprise as an element of marketing has been around forever. Another way to think of surprise is the technique of getting the person’s attention. Print advertisers do it with layout, ad design, copy and photography, radio advertisers do it with lead in announcements comments and sound, television -well, everyone knows how surprise leads to attention, and then hopefully leads to excitement and arousal and awareness and eventually liking and purchase and loyalty.
I point this out because yes, in viral marketing surprise is important but it is not a unique quality of viral marketing in the sense that this is what makes viral marketing unique. What makes viral marketing unique today is the use of the internet and certain subsets of the internet (social networking for example) to try to “create” a viral marketing campaign. Like “creating surprise” this is something that is as much an accident and a fortunate outcome as it is a well planned one.
If the viral marketing campaign is good, if the underlying value proposition is good, if the channels of communication are good, then elements like surprise can help reach that much sought after tipping point.
The article is a good one, and as we marketers continue to try to find ways to connect with more potential customers, viral marketing looks more and more appealing. But, sadly, it is still marketing after all, and anyone who has any experience with marketing knows it is hit-and-miss.
Again, excellent post Maki. Understanding our audience’s schemas will definitely be considered for our next marketing campaigns…I’m always impressed by your choice of words and the substance of your content. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
“Buying a pair of shoes does not involve ’disruptive’ or ‘intense’ emotions. Nothing here encourages us to share this experience with others.”
Spoken like a true man, every woman I know loves to go on and on and on about the shoes they just brought!
@ Writer Data, Jeff
Looks you you both know what you want to do with your sites, which is great!
@ Francis Bean
Thanks for your comment!
@ David
Definitely, I think incorporating surprise in the pre or post-sales/conversion process is something that’s very useful indeed. Usually we only think of fancy viral ads but the simple stuff helps a lot as well.
@ Scott
Negative surprise, while negative.. will result in word-of-mouth too. It depends on what is it you’re marketing. If you’re selling a product/service, someone telling a friend to ’stay away’ is not a good thing to want. But if you’re promoting a message/idea, negative surprise might encourage people to talk about it and get it to spread to the people who’ll take well to it.
A psychological understanding of the consumer/audience is the basis of many PR and political successes since the advent of mass media. I think the 2008 U.S elections are a great example of how deep schema profiling is always useful.
@ Ankesh
That’s what I personally like to do too
@ Christian E.Kuoh
Thanks!
@ KatFrench
I think the zen koans work because they deliberately go against logic. The surprise twist at the end gives them an ‘ah’ realization, which is digested more deeply than if they initially understood it using rational thought. I guess they can be considered a form of schema discrepancy.
@ Ultimate Blogging Experiment
You’re welcome!
@ Karl Staib
I totally agree. Things that surprise us are usually things that we think will surprise others as well. Hence, the social sharing.
@ Jeff Pallin
You’re right. All marketing is hit-or-miss, no matter how well planned it is since we’re dealing with an unpredictable element (humans). I don’t think surprise is a unique quality of viral marketing as well. It’s mainly an emotion you want to elicit through the campaign, which can be done in many different ways.
I guess the point of this article is to bring the importance of eliciting surprise to the forefront, hence encouraging people to perform marketing with this as a goal. Yes, surprise may be created by accident (if so, excellent!) but thats not really something I really care about. I’m more interested in redesigning the pre/post sale process or doing up viral campaigns to make them stick better.
For example, a marketer could test a focus group to see if the ad was unexpected and hence, surprising before releasing it in the wild. This careful deliberation could help create more successful campaigns.
@ Zaza
You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked the post!
@ Ryan
Haha. Some people will always share whatever they do but the intensity with which they share it will vary. Maybe women will talk vividly about their purchases with their girlfriends but their word-of-mouth potential can also be increased more when surprise is created.
great article!
Thanks for the useful info. I always find that it’s crucial to find that balance between quality content that really benefits your readers over time and creating that shock value that will get them talking about your blog. Like you had mentioned in your post, often times this shocking content can be short lived and even eventually re-train your readers to be used to it. This can be bad because then they expect it and then your less than shocking content seems even more boring than it would have otherwise. It’s kind of like putting too much salt on your food. If you over salt your food on a regular basis than regularly seasoned food with seem bland to you. So you have to be careful with how you mold your readers expectations. If you’re in it for the long haul you will have to sustain whatever level of shock you initially present them with.
Everything you say makes a lot of sense. An emotional connection is so important and especially online, since there is no personal contact and we are dealing with people/customers though a computer screen.
My favorite surprise over the last several months was the Dancing video where the dude does his silly dance in all those different countries with all those different people. The surprise there, at least for me, is the refreshing sense of the world as one at a time when mostly we hear about wars, oil prices, etc.
Maybe that video doesn’t work for everyone, or maybe other people got something else out of it. But at least for me the surprise was in seeing something fun and different that actually put me in a great mood.
As far as how that translates to marketing, I know that some chewing gum company sponsored it and briefly flashed their logo at the end (another surprise – tasteful, subtle advertising on the Internet) but can’t remember who. Does that make it a fail?
Very perceptive indeed. I think along with having personal peace one can do a lot.
@JR Ack! Personal? Emotional? Maki makes sense?
Then why spam his comments with your keyword phrase, er, I mean username,
in an effort to link back to your IM Splog?
Your Über-optimized URL as your commenter name,
simply to harvest DoshDosh juice,
is Not counteracted by a whole 2 relevant sentences.
This is “Let me smile in your face while I lift your wallet”
If this was my blog, that would never get past moderation.
Thank you for that information. Definately something very applicable. I look forward to learning more.
Hi Maki and fellow readers,
I do think that a good surprise is always a good marketing campaign; one can argue that “bad” surprises can also be, but lets stick with good ones
Let me share one of my preferences. When I see a commercial, what I like is that kind that puts a big smile in our faces because something funny and unexpected just happened. You know, those commercials with extremely good taste humour.
Also being a painter I quite enjoy when a painting conveys and image that makes me smile or even laugh.
It goes without saying that one will have the tendence to share these with friends and coleagues.
A great weekend for you all,
José
Anger or moral outrage is also a very big provocateur for viral marketing
Hey Maki,
I’d add one piece of information for your readers.
Jargon is always a factor that we must sort for when developing new skills or strategies. If you want to get some good ideas on how this mental disruption takes place, run a search on Google for “pattern interrupts.”
Pattern interrupts are mechanisms leveraged by NLP practitioners and hypnotists to achieve precisely what you describe in this post: short-circuit the habitual train of thought of your subject and take control of its direction.
I look forward to your posts.
Cheers,
Steve
Another Post which scores 5/5. Very intersting and thought provoking.
Another Post which scores 5/5. Very interesting and thought provoking.
uhmm,.. interesting post’
Surprise doesn’t really have to be the big out of the ordinary thing but jut an ending derived from the path we have been following all along, a simple thing that would make us go: interesting.
Yes, I agree, I too have used this technique in my marketing
Maki,
This site is still looking great after all that time. I had stopped reading for a while and after reading again, the content is still as fresh and insighful as before.
Just wanted to say kudos… (and let’s be honest put a link to my blog
)…
Plus you have one more subscriber…. again.
Thanks Maki. Good suggestion on “think about ways to elicit positive surprise by enhancing the experiences of your audience in unexpected ways.” and direct to practical “understanding your audience’s schemas”. It generates more thinking on how to find the positive surprising key.
Thanks for the great post, now I just need a way to surprise people
An excellent article definitely very thought provoking. I will look forward to seeing part two and specific examples of the surprise used in real world campaigns.
I have to say that the article is written put together. I think that surprise can help all of us in our marketing. We need to use it more often than we do.
This is a very insightful article Maki. I always read your blog and follow the “wisdom” you share. I also like to add that viral marketing works best if done for the purpose higher than just making money. Keep it up
Wonderful article. Yes suprise is a key element to viral marketing. Everyone has an interest in the unknown and finding out about something when it is placed in front of an individual is almost to good to resist for most people.
Your article is right on target. This is exactly what happened to Blurbings.com, my company.
Recently Blurbings appeared in a New York Times article on blurbs and sparked a huge emotional reaction from writers all over the web. Suddenly blogs and articles popped up raging against us. Unfortunately, the article was not well investigated and the information was wrong.
Our company helps authors receive blurbs for their books. The article stated that we paid other authors to write blurbs thus discrediting the authenticity of the blurbs. Writers were so outraged by this that we became the talk of every writers blog. However if any of those writers had taken ten seconds and visited our website they would have seen that we do not pay or hire authors to write anything. Blurbs are written for free by other authors to help authors receive the promotion they deserve.
Your article was very informative and gave me an insight into what just recently happened with my company.
Thank you,
Maki
I am always reading dosh dosh and this is true how strong the mouth of viral. Thank you about this post.
The article is very well informative on marketing aspects.
I loved this article!!! Thank you! Marketing with emotion or insuring your marketing creates emotion is so important! In regards to surprise it completely fits and yet its not an emotion I have really thought about. Can’t wait to see how I add surprises in the coming weeks.
This is an excellent post . Thanks a lot . I am grateful to you .
I wholly agree with your article but one thing that was not mentioned is that you must already have somebody’s attention in order to introduce the element of suprise. If nobody is paying attention to you, you’ll never have a chance. Great post otherwise.
great post ! i work as marketing in one of local news paper, sometimes word of mouth is much better and more effective than conventional promotion just like placing print ads in newspaper
Virals could change from ona country to another? I mean the surprise factor could differ from say, French society to … dont know… Thai. I liked very much yoir article.
agree. Mouth marketing and viral marketing really help me to get many traffic. Sometimes its build some sales unexpected.
I’M reading dosh dosh fo, last one year. I have also used their free word press themes for my blog.This is an excellent post about Viral Marketing.Please continue the good work
Was it this post that spurred the Palin choice??
I enjoyed reading your blog, and I agree with everything you say…
absolutely, Agree . . . good trik on marketing its mean good project n succes for income.
nice info . . .The article is very well informative for me.
i’ll try for reading dosh dosh everytime i can,
thanks
I think emotional engagement is a prerequisite for any successful marketing initiative, including viral. Love reading your post!
The quality of your posts has always amazed me. Thanks again for another great one.
viral marketing and doshdosh…. as i saw today, aladygma.com/new use the dosh dosh template prosense. do you have something to do with aladygma dosh dosh?
I really enjoy reading your blog! You’re right, when someone has a good experience with a product they will definitely talk about it, but they’ll talk even more when they are surprised by unexpected benefits or rewards!
Thanks for the rockin’ knowledge!
i look at your blog and i think… “hey, he is writing about intriguing things… nice ’surprises’ and quick tips that I am already beaten over the head with by the mainstream media.” (not just your fault, I am guilty of helping to destroy my own culture as well.)
How can I attract more subscribers to my blog?!@#@!#$^@$*@@#^!!
I am not even interested in making $ out of it at this point… just looking to build a 200-500 person subscriber base…. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS!
How do I make my blog: Not suck?
http://WWW.PETERKITCH.BLOGSPOT.COM
ehm, i gues many people already did that.
To matter is you want to do that or not? If you lazy, nothing will come to you. Am i right?
Word of mouth advertising is without question the most powerful form of marketing!
One thing that never surprises me is the depth of your articles and the time you spent responding to comments. I honestly haven’t found another blog like it, all credit to you Maki.
I would assume that suprise also pushes people into action and more then that – when someone is suprised they tend to remember it as well.
Maki,
This time you surprised me, an excellent post, quality work indeed
Mudassir
http://www.socialmediaplex.com
Connecting emotionally is indeed one of the most important factor to creating viral messages or marketing campaigns. It has to resonate with the target audience. There’s another really good paper on this very topic. We summarized and reference the paper on our blog. Here’s an excerpt:
“Thankfully in, “Why pass on viral messages? Because they connection Emotionally,” researchers from the Kelly School of Business provided an answer. Joy, for example, is best suited towards companies with irreverent/fun brands, or those looking to revitalize their image. Sadness is best used in cases of disaster or in response to social situations that seek short-term remedy such as natural disasters. Finally, anger is best used to express injustice and a call to action that involves a long-term commitment.”
The entire article can be read at: http://bizjournal.smbzen.com/small-business/marketing/word-of-mouth-its-all-about-emotions.html