Book Tip No. 63 (2023) Jonah Berger: Magic Words. What to say to get your way.

New York 2023.

By Hans-Christian Riekhof

One might think that there are enough books on topics such as convincing language, strong rhetoric, or sales-oriented advertising language.

But digitization also opens up completely new possibilities here: automated text analysis provides the basis for evidence-based research.

The LIWC – Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count used by Jonah Berger can identify empirical correlations between word choice, for example in social media and online advertising, and the actual reactions of users. And from this, valuable clues can be derived as to which forms of language are more likely to elicit certain reactions.

Jonah Berger gives the reader many valuable tips, such as when a specific word choice is advantageous, how language can become more emotional, how trust can be generated or strengthened, and why you should address the identity of your counterpart. For all those who regularly create texts, an extremely important but also entertaining guide.