Have you ever seen the video, "Charlie bit me?"  Did you send the link to any friends? How about another video or news story? Why do you think you forwarded–or did not forward–the links you've seen? 

According to this piece in FastCompany, some Internet stories are more likely to "go viral" than others. Social scientists have conducted both correlational and experimental studies to test hypotheses about what kinds of stories are more likely to be passed on.

One hypothesis is that emotional stories are more likely to go viral. Below are some study descriptions from the FastCompany story, with questions about them.

A research team led by Rosanna E. Guadagno of the National Science Foundation showed 256 test participants one video from a collection that spanned the emotional spectrum. Some saw a cute or funny clip that had gone viral on YouTube. Others saw a hit that evoked anger ordisgust. Still others saw a neutral video about basket-weaving.After the viewing, participants were asked whether or not they would share that video with someone else. Those who'd seen the funny or cute video were significantly more likely to say they'd forward it than any of the other test participants. Those who'd seen the video causing anger or disgust were significantly more likely to say the same than those who'd seen the neutral clip. 

a) Is the above story correlational or experimental? What are the two variables in the study?

 

A few years ago, Wharton behavioral scholars Jonah Berger and Katherine Milkman analyzed roughly 7,000 articles that appeared on the New York Timeswebsite to see which ones made the "most emailed" list. After controlling for factors like page prominence and author fame, the researchers found that emotional content indeed went viral more often than non-emotional pieces.

b) Is this study correlational or experimental? What does the phrase "After controlling for factors like…" suggest to you?

 

Berger… extended this finding even further during a separate laboratory study. He asked some test participants to sit still before reading a neutral article, and asked others to jog in place for a minute before reading the same piece. Then he gave both groups the option of emailing the article to someone else. Three-quarters of the joggers forwarded it against only a third of the sitters–a further sign, in Berger's eyes, that arousal plays a major role in social transmission.

c) Is the above laboratory study an experiment or a correlational study? What are the variables in the study? 

d) Based on the results of his lab study, can Berger support the claim that experiencing arousal while reading a story causes people to forward it–to transmit it– more?