What made the “Don’t Mess with Texas” anti-litter campaign so successful that it produced a 29 percent decline in trash-tossing on the state’s highways? Why has the urban legend of kidney thieves drugging unwary travelers and robbing them of their kidneys survived for decades? Why did the ad campaign featuring Jared, the college student who cut his weight in half by eating Subway sandwiches, stand out among a plethora of weight-loss marketing efforts? The answers to these and other questions about communication that has a lasting impact are offered by brothers Chip Heath, a Stanford University professor of organizational behavior, and Dan Heath, an education consultant based in North Carolina, in Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.
The authors spent a decade analyzing the “stickiness” of a message – those that are understood and remembered, and thus have lasting impact. Using behavioral and brain sciences research as well as social history, the authors developed explanations for what makes an idea both memorable and convincing. In addition to studying marketing messages and urban legends, the Heath brothers examined proverbs, political speeches, news reports, classroom lessons, and management directives to determine the elements of sticky ideas and messages.
The Heath brothers attribute the “sticky terminology” they use to one of their favorite authors, Malcolm Gladwell, who wrote the bestseller The Tipping Point in 2000. In his book, Gladwell contends that innovations that produce a “tipping point” or social epidemic are due to their “stickiness.” Gladwell offers three simple rules that can explain the socialization of behavior: “The Law of the Few,” “The Stickiness Factor,” and “The Power of Context.” However, he did not explain why some ideas stick and others do not, and thus the Heath brothers take the next step. They refer to books written by Gary Klein, Stephen Denning, Jim Collins, Stephen Covey, and many others in a similar genre that revolve around what makes some decisions or outcomes better for some people and organizations.
According to the authors, the stickiest ideas have much in common. They found that to be remembered, understood, and used, a message has to be a SUCCESs – Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, and have a Story that puts the message into a context. They devote a chapter to each of these elements, using short stories and parables to illustrate why some ideas stick and others are forgotten soon after they are expressed.
One especially memorable story presented by the authors illustrates the power of emotions in a message. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University wanted to understand how people responded to an opportunity to make a charitable contribution to an abstract cause versus a charitable contribution to a single person. The researchers asked participants to complete a survey, after which they received
payment in five one-dollar bills, and they were unexpectedly given an envelope and a charity-request letter asking them to donate some of their money. Participants who received the charity request letter featuring statistics about the magnitude of the problems facing children in Africa, on average, contributed $ 1.14. When participants received a request letter with the story of single young girl, Rokia, they gave an average of $2.38. The researchers tried a third letter, using some of the statistics and the story of the young girl. Now the participants donated $1.43. The researcher theorized that statistics makes people think analytically, and they donate less money.
The authors confirmed this theory by working with two groups of people. They primed one group to think analytically, asking questions such as “How many feet will an object travel if...?” The second group was primed to think emotionally by asking them, “What do you feel when you hear the word ‘baby.’” Each person in the two groups were given the Rokia letter and charity envelope. The “analytically primed” group donated $1.26, and the “emotionally primed” group donated $2.36. The researchers concluded that the mere act of calculation caused participants to reduce the amount donated to charity.
In each chapter, the authors present “idea clinic” case studies to help the reader work through making a message “more sticky.” The comments analyze the weaknesses and strengths of the message. The authors state this is a side bar and can be skipped. However, these exercise offer valuable learning opportunities. Still, the clinics could have been strengthened if different types of messages and media such as letters, Web sites, posters, and radio messages were used as exampled. CHPPD members may be interested in also reading the book Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug, as it uses this “clinic” concept very effectively.
Although alluded to in the chapter on being concrete, the power of photographs and other types of images in making messages sticky could have been better addressed. In this chapter, the authors introduce Jerry Kaplan, a young innovator who tossed a simple briefcase to venture capitalists at a meeting, and convinced them to invest in GO Corporation, inventing PenPoint, a pen-based operating system. Photographs and images have an invaluable stake in appealing to emotions. For example, the book cover uses the image and feel of “duct tape” to make the concept of stickiness both literal and figurative.
Made to Stick is an easy-to-read book that should be of interest to public health professionals, all of whom must communicate concepts, ideas, and messages successfully.
Reviewed by Priti Irani, Chair Elect, pri01@health.state.ny.us and Renée Wilson-Simmons, Newsletter Co-Editor, RWilson-Simmons@aecf.org
We would like to thank Rebecca Head, Chair-Elect, Environmental Section; Miriam Labbok, Chair-Elect, International Health; and Betty Berkemeir, Public Health Nursing, Chair-Elect, Inter Section Council for recommending this book.