Spotify is onto something. They give us data about ourselves. And we react. So I made a reaction video to my Spotify Wrapped. 😱
And maybe that’s the actual point: I reacted. On the other hand, I failed to do the key behavior that Spotify’s viral strategy is designed for: I didn’t share my Wrapped. 😕
So what happened? Let’s unwrap this (warning: Zac Brown Band fandom ahead!). 💃🏽
Engagement + Disappointment ≠ Virality 🤷♀️
Jonah Berger found in a 2012 paper analyzing NYT headlines that content that evokes high-arousal positive (awe) or negative (anger or anxiety) emotions is more likely to go viral.
That seems like a "duh." No, we don't share neutral or dull content; we want to share content that gets our emotions going. Spotify does this by giving us information about our listening behavior. They tell us our top artists and songs and how we compare to others—and as you can see in the video, this evokes my emotions! 😬
Berger summarizes the effect of emotion on sharing behavior in his journal article:
“A one-standard deviation increase in the amount of anger an article evokes increases the odds that it will make the most e-mailed list by 34%...Similarly, a one-standard-deviation increase in awe increases the odds of making the most e-mailed list by 30%.”
Unwrapping the Behavioral Science of Virality 🧠
Wrapped leverages some other key principles of behavioral science to achieve virality (shoutout to Karl Purcell for unpacking this!):
⚖️ Quantification fixation: We're naturally drawn to quantifiable information. Spotify makes the most of this by giving us numbers to react to.
🆔 Identity: They make us feel like we’re the leader in something, relative to others
🧐 Curiosity: What's that song I've played 53 times??
All was going well in my Spotify Wrapped... until it wasn’t.
Sadly, while I reacted, I also rejected the bundle (i.e. my Wrapped as a whole). They mis-categorized me by including songs in my Wrapped that my 1-and-a-half-year-old was raging to. There’s an analogy here around how potential customers reject product bundles if something seems off. They may love 5 of the core features, but reject the full product if the 6th is off.
🎺 Side note: we saw similar principles at play recently in my United MileagePlus teardown. ✈️ Where airlines drive engagement through visible rewards that signify status and recognition, Spotify gives us personalized insights and unique playlists. These ‘status symbols’ didn’t fly for me this year. Try again in 2024, Spotify? 🎵
Have a friend who would enjoy these teardowns? Click the button below to refer them (& earn some great rewards)👇
Questions about your product? Email kristen@irrationallabs.com.
Share this post