Inner Remarkability
The quality of being novel, surprising or extreme enough that mentioning something reflects well on the person who mentions it.
What it is
Jonah Berger's claim in Contagious that remarkability is not fixed by a product's category but by whether it breaks the pattern a person expected. A surprising fact gives the teller something worth saying, and saying it shows the teller as someone who knows interesting things.
In effect
In the article on social currency in marketing, it is the first of the three ways Berger names to give people something to show, beside game mechanics and the feeling of being an insider.
What it does not say
It is a claim about why people talk, set out in a trade book. It does not say that any surprising feature will be talked about, or that surprise alone builds a lasting reputation.
Sources
- Berger, J. Contagious.