Jonah Berger — Contagious: Why Things Catch OnWord of mouth […] is a prime tool for making a good impression. Think of it as a kind of currency. Social currency. Just as people use money to buy products or services, they use social currency to achieve desired positive impressions among their families, friends, and colleagues.
So to get people talking, companies and organizations need to mint social currency. Give people a way to make themselves look geod while promoting their products and ideas along the way.