It’s Official: Breakthrough Viral Marketing Research Tool Confirms We’re Hardwired for Social Networking

A report published today by leading social media agency Conquest identifies the compulsive drivers behind the new ‘social contagion’ phenomenon. Using findings from the remarkable viral marketing research tool InfeXious™, it confirms that the human brain is hardwired to absorb and broadcast ‘irresistible ideas’ through social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

The conclusions are a culmination of two years’ work by David Penn’s team at Conquest into what makes ideas ’go viral’. Its results are far reaching, covering brands and advertising as well as sport, celebrity politics and even religion. The mechanics of mob-inspired ‘contagion’ are traced and examined, while the new marketing tool will be able to identify, predict and explain the next Cadbury’s Gorilla, Cheryl Cole, ‘Meerkat’ or ‘Yes We Can’.

The report takes Gladwell’s Tipping Point and Dunbar’s “Social Brain” to a new level and demonstrates that as consumers, we are neurologically impelled to broadcast infectious ideas. Says Penn; “Advances in neuroscience, cognitive linguistics and memetics show us that the human brain has evolved specifically in order to promote and operate within social networks, by honing our ability to identify and manage the individual emotional cues of others. And like viruses, the best or most ‘Contagious’ ideas use human social networks to propagate themselves.”

Penn breaks down ‘virality’ into its component parts: ‘buzz’, ‘belonging’, ‘attraction’, ‘dynamism’ and ‘numinosity’ or ‘awe’. This combination is likely to manifest in the modern day marketer’s holy grail, namely, how to inspire the consumer to create the next viral marketing ‘Big Idea’.

InfeXious™ is a new generation online tool using state of the art, interactive graphics and follows hot on the heels of the award winning Metaphorix® technology, which measures unconscious emotional reactions to brands by tapping into the metaphors we use to describe and express feelings.

InfeXious™ will be launched simultaneously at the MRS conference Research 2010 in London (23rd March) and The ARF annual convention, re:think 2010, in New York ( 22nd March) .