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 because its’ advertising was founded very explicitly on the principles of epidemic transmission.” Business eventually dropped for Airwalk sneakers because of production problems which led to an inability to fill orders, and they decided to make their shoe mainstream, which meant that specialty shops were getting the same shoe as big box stores.
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, according to the language of diffusion research are:
1. Innovators-the first and “adventurous ones”
2. Early Adopters-“followed suit of the Innovators”
3. Early Majority-‘first of those who waited until the most respected try it first’
4. Late Majority-‘second of those who waited until the most respected and Early Majority try it first’
5. Laggard-those “who see no urgent reason to change”
3.What is the process of distortion that characterizes most rumors?
The process of distortion that characterizes most rumors begins with leveling in which “details that are essential for understanding” are omitted. Second, is sharpening, meaning ‘the details that remain are more specific.’ Third, is assimilation: ‘the story was changed so it made more sense to those spreading the rumor.’
4.How did the researchers at Johns Hopkins University help the city of Baltimore to run a more efficient needle-exchange program?
The researchers at Johns Hopkins University helped the city of Baltimore to run a more efficient needle-exchange program by identifying “super-exchangers.” These “super-exchangers” were trading in hundreds of dirty needles for clean ones and then selling them twenty-four seven, reaching more people than the van.
5.What is the connection between the Dalai Lama and the Beastie Boys?
The connection between the Dalai Lama and the Beastie Boys was that the “Beastie Boys were very publicly putting money into the Free Tibet campaign, and were bringing monks on stage at their concerts to give testimonials.”
6.What made Airwalk’s advertising so successful?
Gordon’s analysis of the new trends or ideas of her team of innovators from around the world made Airwalk’s advertising so successful.
7.What is an Innovator?
An Innovator is a person “who originate(s) trends and ideas.” “They want revolutionary change, something that sets them apart qualitatively from their competitors.
8.How are Innovators linked to Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen?
“The Innovators try something new. Then “the Maven or a Connector or a Salesman—sees it and adopts it.”
9.Do you know any Innovators?
I do know some Innovators. They tend to be very excited about whatever new item they are trying and then they tend to have some Salesman qualities telling you all about it, how it has worked for them and how it may work for you.
10.How do trends work?
A trend begins with an Innovator and then it takes off if it becomes a “thread running throughout everything” ‘through T.V., inventions, music, materials worn, etc.’
11.Give examples of trends in your lifetime.Which trends faded?Which have lasted?Presume the reasons for success and failure.
Some trends I have observed are the: side ponytail, belly button rings, lower back tattoos, barbed wire and tribal band tattoos, rolled up pant legs, side ponytails, knotted or tied shirts to the side or behind, krimped hair, perms, etc.
The trends that have lasted from the ones I have observed are the tattoos, not because they are still “trendy” but because you can’t get rid of them. When you see a certain tattoo like a tribal band or barbed wire you can tell about the time they got it.
The funny thing about trends though is they tend to repeat. They are successful because they are new to that generation and then fade because something new and exciting comes along, but they are never gone for too long.
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?
Teens in Micronesia are committing suicide at a high rate according to Gladwell, because of a “contagious epidemic of self-destruction, engaged in by youth in the spirit of experimentation, imitation, and rebellion” as well as a “form of self-expression.”
2.What is permission-giving?
Permission-giving is when someone gives another “permission” through their actions.
3.How does Gladwell make the connection between Micronesian’s teen suicides and teen smoking in America?
Gladwell makes the connection between Micronesian’s teen suicides and teen smoking in America when he compares the two as experimenting in the last paragraph of the chapter.
4.What steps has our society taken to curb teenage smoking?
The steps has our society taken to curb teenage smoking are ‘restrict(ing) and polic(ing) cigarette advertising, raising prices of cigarettes, enforced the law against selling tobacco to minors,’ ran “extensive public health campaigns on television and radio and in magazines to try to educate teens about the dangers of smoking.”
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?
Gladwell thinks that the current strategy of educating people about the risk of smoking is wrong because teens still smoke “even though they overestimate the risk of smoking.”
Gladwell would like to substitute the current strategies with “prevent(ing) the permission-givers-from smoking in the first place and to convince all those who look to permission givers to look elsewhere.”
6.What is the difference between “chippers” and addicted chronic smokers?
The difference between “chippers” and addicted chronic smokers is that “chippers” according to Shiffman “are not addicted to nicotine and that their smoking is not driven by withdrawal relief or withdrawal avoidance” unlike chronic smokers.
7.What were the results of the Colorado Adoption Project?
The results of the Colorado Adoption Project were that the “biological children were fairly similar to their parents in measure of intellectual ability and certain aspects of personality” and the adopted children had “nothing whatsoever in common with their adoptive parents.”
8.What is the correlation between smoking and depression?
The correlation between smoking and depression is that they deal with the same brain chemicals serotonin, dopamine, and neorephrine. Some smokers use the nicotine in cigarettes to “treat their own depression.”
9.What have been the effects of Zyban on smokers?
The effects of Zyban on smokers is that it lifts mood the same way cigarettes do and therefore helps more smokers to quit.
10.What are “addiction thresholds”?
“Addiction thresholds” are the amount of an addictive substance it takes for someone to become addicted which may vary from person to person dependant upon their genes.
11.What are the character traits of the smoking personality, according to Gladwell?
The character traits of the smoking personality, according to Gladwell are “defiance sexual precocity, honesty, impulsiveness, indifference to the opinion of others, and sensations seeking.”
12.Why are teenagers drawn to these traits?
Teenagers drawn to these traits because according to teens these traits are cool.
13.What are your thoughts about peer influence versus heredity and parental influence?
My thoughts are that peers are extremely influential. However, how you pick you peers and how you interact with your peers does have some parental influence.
14.Whom are you most influenced by?
I believe myself to be most influenced by my parents. They have been the most constant in my life as compared to my peers whom have changed.
15.Do you believe teens smoke because of peer pressure?
I do believe that teens smoke because of peer pressure. The peer pressure of being deviant, of being cool, of having a shared experience.
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 that parents help to develop the self consciences of teens, therefore I believe they listen to them all the time. However, when they start to follow what their parents have told them is dependent on the teen or 40 year old! Ha Ha
17.Can a safer cigarette be created?
Safer cigarettes have been created that contain less nicotine and tar. However more importantly is how you smoke it. Shorter less frequent puffs deliver less nicotine and tar according to Alice on www.goaskalice.com.
