The Tipping Point

Patty Odell

Chapter 6. Case Study: Rumors, Sneakers, and the Power of Translation

1.How did Airwalk sneakers tip, and why did business eventually drop?

An amusing, sticky advertising campaign founded on the principles of epidemic transmission.

2.What are the five categories of people who use a new product, according to

the language of diffusion research?

The Innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and the laggards.

3.What is the process of distortion that characterizes most rumors?

First the story was leveled—essential details were left out, then sharpened—remaining details become more specific, followed by a process of assimilation—story itself was changed to make sense to the spreader.

4.How did the researchers at Johns Hopkins University help the city of

Baltimore to run a more efficient needle-exchange program?

Having found that “super-exchangers” had turned their needle trade system into a personal marketing business, they trained and employed these people to bridge the communication gap between the medical community and the street where knowledgeable information and products the improve health are needed.

5.What is the connection between the Dalai Lama and the Beastie Boys?

The Beastie Boys were publicly putting money into the Free Tibet Campaign and inviting monks on stage to give testimonials.

6.What made Airwalk’s advertising so successful?

They hired a great innovator—an expert on recognizing youth trends—and she actively researched up-and-coming trends while they were in their infancy so that the ads and accompanying product hit the market as the trend hit main-stream.

7.What is an Innovator?

Innovators are the adventurous ones. They are willing to take risks to make revolutionary changes.

8.How are Innovators linked to Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen?

They take the idea of innovators and make changes and alterations that translate the concept into one that fits well with their need to make a percentage improvement that works within their “system.”

9.Do you know any Innovators?

A shirt-tail relative who is always doing something seemingly absurd just for fun. One of my favorites is his tattoo of a semi-colon-- because it is his favorite punctuation mark--- symbolizing the combining of 2 thoughts into one complete sentence. The first artist declined to implement the tattoo and he had to contact a second who didn’t question him until he had begun application. His friendliness diminished dramatically once he understood the “symbolism.” of the subject.

10.How do trends work?

The Innovators do something “risky” to be different—to set themselves apart and different from everyone else around them. Early adopters pick up on it and begin the process of adaptation and change that makes it palatable to the mainstream—the  early majority who want to be in the forefront of anything new. The late majority sees it in operation and wants to become a part of it, followed by the laggards-those few who will not join anything till it is well established.

11.Give examples of trends in your lifetime. Which trends faded? Which have lasted? Presume the reasons for success and failure.

How about punk clothes and hair. It was first evident in some early rock bands in the 70s, but took off with the Sex Pistols and a fashion designer Vivienne Westwood in 1976, characterized by body piercings, dramatic color style of the hair anti-establishment  indicators, zippers and chains on their clothing. It reached its peak in the 80s. The early majority was, mostly in large cities .Main-stream; it was translated with bright colored, geometric hairstyles, holes in clothing and increased quantities of piercings. It may have diminished as the job market improved although small pockets of punk groups remain. The piercings, hair-colorings and holes in clothing are, at this time, firmly entrenched in clothing for young people...

Chapter 7. Case Study: Suicide, Smoking, and the Search for the Unsticky Cigarette

1.According to Gladwell, why were teens in Micronesia committing suicide at a high rate?

The idea of suicide became thinkable. Young boys considered it to be an experimentation—something to try—a form of self-expression.

2.What is permission-giving?

The simple knowledge that someone else—perhaps high profile—has done it suggests it is permissible and others follow in relative close succession in the aftermath. It becomes, to those open to suggestion, an option for problem-solving.

3.How does Gladwell make the connection between Micronesian’s teen suicides and teen smoking in America?

Gladwell  suggests that teen smoking is based on the same theory of contagion as suicides in Micronesia.

4.What steps has our society taken to curb teenage smoking?

They have forced change in cigarette companies’ deceitful ads, increased the price of cigarettes, enforced laws against minors  purchasing tobacco products, and run health campaigns to alert youth to the dangers.

5.What does Gladwell think is wrong about the current strategies being used to stop American teens from smoking cigarettes? What strategies would he substitute as more effective?

He feels that, since they do not address the cause of the epidemic, they do not result in a change in behavior. Smoking is associated with being “cool,” not because of the tobacco companies advertising campaign, but because of the type of people who do it. He suggests, first, that we determine whether we want to attack the contagion or the stickiness.

 

6.What is the difference between “chippers” and addicted chronic smokers?

A chipper is a person who smokes no more than 5 cigarettes a day and at least 4 days per week. They do not smoke to relieve a physical need for nicotine.

7.What were the results of the Colorado Adoption Project?

The study found that, there are similarities to birth parents and children of genetic traits such as intelligence and certain personality traits, however, having lived and been raised with their adoptive parents, there are no more similarities between parents and children than if you compared them with random people on the street. Environment plays a large role, but parents are a minor part of that factor.

8.What is the correlation between smoking and depression?

Sixty percent of smokers have a history of major depression. In fact, as psychiatric problems increase, the correlation with smoking becomes stronger.  Depression is believed to result from inadequate production of the three key neurotransmitters, and antidepressants stimulate production of serotonin, one of the 3.  Nicotine seems to create the same production response for dopamine and norepinephrine, the other two key neurotransmitters.

9.What have been the effects of Zyban on smokers?

Using Zyban, originally developed to treat depression (by increasing production of dopamine), 49% of smokers quit smoking within 4 weeks of its use.

10.What are “addiction thresholds”?

It is the level of nicotine input at which an individual is no longer a chipper, but becomes addicted to nicotine.

11.What are the character traits of the smoking personality, according to Gladwell?

He describes them as rebellious, truculent and irresponsible.

12.Why are teenagers drawn to these traits?

They are drawn because the teen years are naturally a time of experimentation—and they are experimenting.

13.What are your thoughts about peer influence versus heredity and parental influence?

It is an interesting conclusion. I wonder at what age the study ended. I wonder if, as adults, some of the traits gradually resurfaced when they were living in situations (married with children) that were more like their home scenario with adoptive parents. Do they revert to what they know? I remember a cartoon—many years back—where the mother described all the child-raising strategies of her parents that she intentionally reversed because she found them so obviously wrong—and then realized that she had raised he grown daughter to be exactly like her mother! Do non-hereditary traits sometimes alternate generations? I really enjoyed reading about the study. It adds another layer of knowledge to a topic that will probably never truly be understood because of the vast number of variables and complexities coupled with the availability of subjects and the time spans required for studies. It is a mixed bag, but untangling how much and when is a daunting task.

14.Whom are you most influenced by?

I am most influenced by the people I talk to the most, simply because I hear them more. I am a listener. I love alternative perspectives. I love scientific studies. I love ideas and thoughts. I file them away until I have sufficient information to “lean” a certain way—but I continue to listen for alternative perspectives and the evidence and/or philosophy that backs it up in the speaker’s mind. (As you might guess, I am not a good decision maker because I a never seem to have enough data.)

15.Do you believe teens smoke because of peer pressure?

Peer pressure—stated or perceived—is always an issue with people (not just teens). We all respond to our environment according to our genetic predispositions and understandings. I saw the result of well-intended scare tactics concerning drugs in the 70s backfire because it became so obvious they were total fabrication—at which point (and to this day) many are incredible skeptics. Having watched the escalation in tobacco, alcohol, and drug use in my small town, my belief is similar to the author. The wrong approach is being used. Adults are trying to create fear—trying to exercise power they do not have—attacking the problem in a way that does not address  the cause.  I think adult reaction is a bigger problem than the peer pressure.

16.At what age do kids stop listening to their parents?At what age, if ever, do you think teens start listening again?

 I believe that the specific point of change differs greatly, but, at some point, children know their parent’s minds. They have lived with us  for many years. They have heard what we have to say. They know what we will say. For that reason, they don’t want to hear it—again. They feel able to make their own decisions and live with the repercussions. It is experimentation—checking the perspectives of peers to that of their parents—to learn—to experiment—to demonstrate their maturity. Sometimes we have to allow them to make mistakes so that they learn. Each time they choose and it is a good choice, they become more confident in their decision-making ability. Each time they suffer consequences, their thinking changes. The sooner adults learn to pick their battles and allow the learning to take place, the sooner kids make the choice to allow parents actively back in to their decision-making.

17.Can a safer cigarette be created?

It might be possible to slowly cut back the nicotine levels, and, long term it may reduce addicted smokers, but if that is not addressing the reason for smoking, are those with the need likely to find something else to replace it that may be worse than cigarettes? And what about those already addicted? Would they be able to respond to the adjustments or would it produce new, unexpected problems  (increased crime, suicide rates…? The chain smokers would have difficulty smoking more than they already do, but, for others, would we have increased health costs because of increased numbers of cigarettes being smoked—along with the tars and other cigarette-related health risk issues. We’ve made safer sugar (artificial sweeteners) only to find they increased the desire to eat. Time will tell.

 

 

Chapter 6

1.  Airwalk sneakers tipped by an advertising campaign that was geared towards a certain group of kids.  It failed because it forgot about the little boutiques that made it famous and sold out to mainstream America.  It no longer became a specialty shoe.
2. The five categories of people who use a new product are Innovators, Early Adapters, Early Majority, Late Majority, and Laggards.
3. The process of distortion that characterizes most rumors is the fact that we assimilate things that actually happen to the ideas that are going on around in our world at that specific moment.
4. Through their interviews with the mavens that brought in the used needles to exchange for new unused needles, they found that these exchangers really did want to help a great number of people.  They suggested to the Baltimore needle-exchange program to hand out condoms instead of promoting drug use, the initial step in the spread of AIDS. 
5. The connection between the Dalai Lama and the Beastie Boys was the fact that the Beastie Boys were publicly giving money and support to the Free Tibet campaign.
6. The two things that made Airwalks advertising so successful was the idea that they used contagious trends and the fact that they gave them a specific meaning.
7.  An innovator is a person that translates the idea into their own arena.
8. Innovators are linked to connectors, mavens, and salesmen because it takes the innovator to translate the idea into different areas of interest and it takes the others to get the ideas to spread and stick.
9. I would have to say that an innovator in my life would be our superintendent.  He has some great ideas, and he is a  big advocate of everyone being involved in a concept…having ownership in the concept.  He will create an idea and knows the correct people to contact to get the idea to spread and stick.  Being a big proponent of small schools, I see this technique of his work very successfully in the political arena of education.  I guess I never really thought about it until I read this chapter and now things really start to have meaning for me as to some of the actions he takes.
10. Trends work in the same way as fashions.  It is a concept that someone thinks is “cool” and in this concept they try to get it to stick in different arenas of our society.  When the idea or concept has stuck, then it usually filters into mainstream making it a have to situation for most of the people
11. The trend that came to mind first thing when I read this question was Capri pants.  These were the trend when I was in high school and they are still the trend today.  I think they have stuck for 25+ years is because of their practicality.  Over the years there have been different styles and fashions of them, but one thing has remained constant and that is the simple concept of the length…making it acceptable for all different types of weather and formality.  There has been a small margin for them to change in their colors and styles, but that logically formality of length is what people like.

 Chapter 7

1.  The kids in Micronesia were committing suicide because it was a type of experimentation or self expression.  It was a certain type of speech that the teens could all communicate in a certain sub culture.
2. “Permission-giving” is the idea when a suicide is highly publicized in the media it is giving permission to others to take the same action.
3. Micronesian suicides and American teen smoking are similar because they share the same language, that common speech, that the teens can all understand.
4. Adults telling teens the ramifications of smoking are the steps our society has taken to curb teenage smoking.
5. The problem with this strategy is that it is adults telling to teens to stop and this naturally encourages the teens to try smoking even more.  The more an adult  what a teen is doing, the greater the desire for the teen to try that action that the adults are not condoning.
6. The difference between chippers and addicted chronic smokers is the fact that chippers can abstain from smoking for days at a time without any withdrawal.
7. The Colorado Adoption Project showed that environment was as important if not more important than a persons genetics.  That is a persons peers are very important in the makeup of who they become.
8. The correlation between depression and smoking is the idea that they both are concerned with the levels of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.  These are the chemicals that control our moods and our feelings of confidence, mastery, and pleasure.
9. Zyban is the only drug so far that has made quitting smoking easier because it lifts the mood in the exact same was as nicotine does.
10. Addiction thresholds are the concept that when a person reaches a certain number, they will then become addicted with the next exposure.  The problem with this threshold is that it is a different number for every person.
11. Two of the characteristic traits of smokers are that cool people smoke and that it is a form of experimentation.
12. Teenagers are drawn to these traits because they want to be like the cool people and they are interested in experimenting.  This is built into are make up and is necessary for us to learn right from wrong often times.
13. I was a little surprised with the Colorado Adoption Project results.  I believe differently in the fact that I think that the family unit have a greater influence on a child than does the pressure of their peers.  Teenagers are drawn to these traits because they want to be like the cool people and they are interested in experimenting.  This is built into are make up and is necessary for us  they learn confidence in their morals and values at home from their parents, then I feel they will be able to carry these traits to their circle of friends, helping them to make morally acceptable decisions.  In my eyes, teens that are from  a strong family unit, they are more willing to try to please this family unit than their peers.  I guess this is what I hope, because I see my own children struggling with making a moral decision in front of their peers, fearing the acceptance   
14. I am most influenced by my husband and the ideals from my family and his family.  He is a stellar human being and the positive influence he has on people makes me want to incorporate his characteristic traits into my own dealings with people.  This is not say that I am still influenced by the actions of some of my friends, perhaps in the same pressure situations that teenagers deal with every day.  It is in times like these that I lean on that faith that my husband has influenced me with, that making the correct moral choice is a much wiser and mature action.  He is almost like the good angel sitting on my shoulder reminding me that I am a role model for all of my students.
15. I believe teens smoke because it is a rebellious act and that they want to be the cool person who is doing something that they should not be doing.
16. I think teens start not listening to their parents when they start making their own choices in different peer situations, early teens.  As a high school teacher, I see 18 year olds who do not listen to their parents because they still have it in their head that they have all the answers.  They are starting to make more major life decisions on their own and have not yet experienced a failure that could be life changing for them.  I don’t think I listened to my mom until I had children of my own and started making big mistakes in the child rearing process.  It wasn’t until then that I matured enough to realize that I needed help from someone that was experienced.
17. Before reading this chapter I would have answered no, but the idea of monitoring the nicotine level so that it is not at an addictive stage might be our solution.  Kids are going to experiment and if they experiment with something that does not have a high dose, the phase will hopefully pass by and be chalked up to experience.

Week 4 study questions

Chapter 6. Case Study: Rumors, Sneakers, and the Power of Translation
1.How did Airwalk sneakers tip, and why did business eventually drop? Airwalk sneakers tipped when they hired the Lambesis advertising agency to do ads for them. The ads were great at showing how unique the product was and the “cool” factor was high. Eventually, the company branched-out to too many stores, thus diminishing its cool factor. Becoming too big became the companies undoing.
2.What are the five categories of people who use a new product, according to the language of diffusion research? The five categories of people who use a new product are: the Innovators, the Early Adopters, the Early Majority, the Late Majority and the Laggards.
3.What is the process of distortion that characterizes most rumors? Most rumors are changed from the origin of the story. The first will become “leveled” whereby important details are left out. The story is then “sharpened”, by enlivening the details that remain.
4.How did the researchers at Johns Hopkins University help the city of Baltimore to run a more efficient needle-exchange program? They gave out free syringes to anyone that wanted them. They gave them out twice a week, which wasn't often enough. However, mostly the same people came to buy them. They became the Connectors. These people knew all the places where the junkies hung out. They then sold the needles for a buck a piece. It became very successful for all parties concerned. The junkies got clean needles and the Connectors made money selling the needles, while the public experience a decrease in needle-sharing.
5.What is the connection between the Dalai Lama and the Beastie Boys? At one time, freeing Tibet entered the public consciousness. The band, The Beastie Boys, were public in their support of the freeing Tibet. They made it cool to support this cause in the view of the mainstream. Airwalk picked up on this trend and used it in their ad campaign.
6.What made Airwalk’s advertising so successful? Airwalk was able to tap into the emotions of customers who yearned to be cool. They achieved this by having the great ability of identifying trends early. Their product was the epitome of cool during its peak.
7.What is an Innovator? The innovators are the ones who have the great ideas.
8.How are Innovators linked to Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen? The innovators need the Connectors, Mavens and Salesman to “get the word out” about their idea or product.
9.Do you know any Innovators? Innovators by nature I think are pretty rare. I don't know any personally. However, a real innovator recently is Mark Zukerberg, the creator of Facebook.
10.How do trends work? Trends are started by the Innovators. If their message gets passed on to enough other people (by the Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen) the trend will go mainstream.
11.Give examples of trends in your lifetime. Which trends faded? Which have lasted? Presume the reasons for success and failure. Computers and email would be great examples of trends that have stuck. They stick because they became so useful in all facets of life. Fashion trends always come and go because they don't serve a distinct purpose for the betterment of people. They only stimulate fleeting interest until the next big thing comes along.
Chapter 7. Case Study: Suicide, Smoking, and the Search for the Unsticky Cigarette
1.According to Gladwell, why were teens in Micronesia committing suicide at a high rate? It seems that when a suicide is brought to the public's attention, it heightens interest. In Micronesia, the more suicide was publicized in the news, the more the idea fed upon itself.
2.What is permission-giving? For young people, whenever permission is given to do something that used to be forbidden, the allure off dies off.
3.How does Gladwell make the connection between Micronesian’s teen suicides and teen smoking in America? They are both “forbidden” activities in society. Therefore, more teens want to “try” them.
4.What steps has our society taken to curb teenage smoking? Society has railed against the tobacco companies for making smoking cool. It has sent out a taboo message. It has tried to make smoking look uncool. What society fails to realize is that you really can't stop kids from experimenting, and kids will always want to try whatever is forbidden.
5.What does Gladwell think is wrong about the current strategies being used to stop American teens from smoking cigarettes? What strategies would he substitute as more effective? Smoking is both contagious and sticky. Gladwell believes that we need to reduce the “stickiness” (the addictiveness). He says that we can't control the contagiousness of smoking.
6.What is the difference between “chippers” and addicted chronic smokers? Chippers are defined as those who smoke no more than five cigarettes a day for at least four days a week. These types have not hit the addiction threshold. Chronic smokers must smoke every day. They must smoke upon rising from bed. Chippers can wait a while before having their first smoke.
7.What were the results of the Colorado Adoption Project? The results of the CAP found that there was little environmental link between adoptive parents and their adopted children. The biological parents had a much stronger resemblance to their offspring. Concerning smoking, the genes for nicotine tolerance are passed on to parent's offspring.
8.What is the correlation between smoking and depression? It seems that most heavy smokers also suffer from some form of depression. Smoking provides chemicals to the brain that promote a feeling of well-being. This is due to the nicotine's effect of providing dopamine and norepinephrine to the pleasure centers of the brain.
9.What have been the effects of Zyban on smokers? In many smokers, Zyban has been a good replacement for the lower amounts of dopamine and norepinephrine found in most smokers brains. In effect, it replaces the need for nicotine.
10.What are “addiction thresholds”? The “addiction threshold” is the point at which a chemical is addictive rather than something a person can choose to consume at will.
11.What are the character traits of the smoking personality, according to Gladwell? The smoker personality is usually glamorous, extroverted, risk-taking, rebellious.
12.Why are teenagers drawn to these traits? These are traits that most people would like to have, especially teens. It draws teens into the fantasy of a world that doesn't exist.
13.What are your thoughts about peer influence versus heredity and parental influence? I think that peer groups have as strong an affect on teens as their parents. Personally, I never hung out with kids who smoked. I never had the desire to try smoking either. I always thought that the kids who smoked were losers. The smell of smoke at friends houses was also repellent.
14.Whom are you most influenced by? Reading this book has made me question this. I would say my parents, but after reading about how outside influences can have a remarkably powerful effect, now I'm not sure.
15.Do you believe teens smoke because of peer pressure? I do think that kids will smoke (or at least try it) if members of their peer group do as well. Peer pressure can have a powerful effect.
16.At what age do kids stop listening to their parents? At what age, if ever, do you think teens start listening again? I think it depends on the teen and that teenager's homelife. Some teens don't listen to parents early on around 12 years old. Others will always listen to a certain extant, while still rebelling in subtle ways.
17.Can a safer cigarette be created? Gladwell suggests that if we lowered the amount of nicotine in the cigarettes, it would take the average smoker many more cigarettes to reach the addiction threshold. In this way, teens could still experiment with cigarettes, but probably never reach the amount that would result in addiction.