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Which Messages Go Viral and Which Ones Don t

Srini Pillay

A recent study demonstrated that we can successfully predict which messages

will go viral and which will not. This study showed that the ideas that are

destined to spread have a characteristic signature at their origin that is,

quite literally, within the brain of the sender. These messages specifically

activate key regions in two circuits in the sender s brain: the reward

circuit, which registers the value of the message to the sender, and the

mentalizing circuit, which activates when we see things from the point of view

of the person who receives the message. From the moment we first formulate a

message, these two factors play a key role in whether or not they will go

viral. The more you value an idea that you want to spread, the more likely you

are to be successful at spreading it. In addition, the more accurately you can

predict how others will feel about the message, the more likely you are to be

successful at spreading this idea. These findings are profound because they

imply that we can predict which messages will go viral and which ones will not

based on these two factors. If this is the case, how can you optimize both of

these factors in the messages that you would like to spread in your business?

Let s take a look at value. On the surface, it would seem that any idea that

you want to spread is one that you might value, but have you really examined

this value enough to communicate the essence of it? For example, if you are a

biotechnology fund manager who wants to communicate the importance of investing

in biotechnology, you may think that your value is in your recent success in

investing for shareholders, but if you are a reasonable person, you will likely

also have doubts about this. Hence, the value that you create for shareholders

will create a value x that will activate your own reward center. But this

activation will not be as large as when you also register that your actual

value is that you are investing in helping to cure people from their illnesses

or shorten their durations of suffering ( y ). You may not be right all the

time, but if this is your genuine reward, your brain s reward circuit will be

activated because this will always be true. Also, if you really recognize how

emotionally satisfying this will be to you, this will provide further value and

activate the reward center even more ( z ). Thus value has financial, social

and emotional implications, all of which can add up (x + y + z) to enhance

activation of the reward center of your brain.

Similarly, the degree to which you can predict the way your audience will feel

may also involve multiple dimensions. How will they feel about the fact that

you have a history of success in biotechnology investing? How will they feel

about their own investment in the well-being of the world? Do they care about

communicating this to their families? Would they be excited about the rapid

advancements in this field and seeing the newness of the opportunity? Here

again, these different aspects of how your audience thinks will help to

accentuate the activation in your mentalizing circuit where you form a mental

picture of the audience s needs and wants.

In addition to these factors, the study also showed that regardless of personal

preference, if you have the explicit intention to spread a message, the message

is more likely to spread. For example, for that same biotechnology investor, it

would make a difference if he or she actually wanted to spread the message

rather than just passively feeling that the message is valuable. This implies

that it matters when you think of how a message can be useful to others rather

than simply thinking about yourself.

All three factors (value, mentalizing, and intention to spread) point to the

fact that the social currency of a message matters at the very source of the

message. If the message has value and takes into account the needs of others,

and if you are committed to spreading this message, it is more likely to reach

many more people than if you were just communicating a message that you were

excited about.

Srini Pillay, M.D. is the CEO of NeuroBusiness Group and award-winning author

of numerous books, including Life Unlocked: 7 Revolutionary Lessons to Overcome

Fear, as well as Your Brain and Business: The Neuroscience of Great Leaders. He

is also Assistant Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School and teaches in

the Executive Education Program at Harvard Business School.