The tipping point : how little things can make a big difference

SUMMARY: The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas. Political Science,General,Business & Economics,Psychology,Social Science,Sociology,Philosophy,Sociology - General,Social Psychology,Contagion (Social psychology),Causality,Marketing,Causation,Advertising & Promotion,Psychology; Social,Marketing - General,Context effects (Psychology) Ideas, Products, Messages And Behaviors Spread Just Like Viruses Do. Behavior Can Ripple Outward Until A Critical Mass Or Tipping Point Is Reached, Changing The World. Gladwell Develops These And Other Concepts (such As The Stickiness Of Ideas Or The Effect Of Population Size On Information Dispersal) Through Simple, Clear Explanations And Entertainingly Illustrative Anecdotes. The Three Rules Of Epidemics -- The Law Of The Few: Connectors, Mavens, And Salesmen -- The Stickiness Factor: Sesame Street, Blue's Clues, And The Educational Virus -- The Power Of Context (part One): Bernie Goetz And The Rise And Fall Of New York City Crime -- The Power Of Context (part Two): The Magic Number One Hundred And Fifty -- Case Study: Rumors, Sneakers, And The Power Of Translation -- Case Study: Suicide, Smoking, And The Search For The Unsticky Cigarette -- Conclusion: Focus, Test, And Believe -- Afterword: Tipping Point Lessons From The Real World. Malcolm Gladwell ; [with A New Afterword By The Author]. Originally Published: Boston : Little, Brown, C2000. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell looks at why major changes in our society so often happen suddenly and unexpectedly. Ideas, behavior, messages, and products, he argues, often spread like outbreaks of infectious disease. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a few fare-beaters and graffiti artists fuel a subway crime wave, or a satisfied customer fill the empty tables of a new restaurant. These are social epidemics, and the moment when they take off, when they reach their critical mass, is the Tipping Point.". "Gladwell introduces us to the particular personality types who are natural pollinators of new ideas and trends, the people who create the phenomenon of word of mouth. He analyzes fashion trends, smoking, children's television, direct mail, and the early days of the American Revolution for clues about making ideas infectious, and visits a religious commune, a successful high-tech company, and one of the world's greatest salesmen to show how to start and sustain social epidemics."--BOOK JACKET. "The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas." -- Provided by publisher