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 of the great adveritsing and look of the sneaker. Lembesis descovered an amusing, sticky advertising campaign founded on the prinicples of Epedimic Transmission
2.What are the five categories of people who use a new product, according to
the language of diffusion research?
The five categories are the innevators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and the laggards.
3.What is the process of distortion that characterizes most rumors?
The process is that first the story was leveled and essentials details were left out. Then sharpened, and finally assimilation takes place.
4.How did the researchers at Johns Hopkins University help the city of
Baltimore to run a more efficient needle-exchange program?
Baltimore having found out tha the "super-echamgers" turned their needle exchange into their own business. So, they trained and emoployed these people ti help bridge the communication gap between the medical community and the street. This is where important informationa and prodcts and improve health is needed.
5.What is the connection between the Dalai Lama and the Beastie Boys?
The connection is that the Bestie Boys were publicly putting money into the Free Tibet Campaign as well as inviing Monks on the stage to give their Testimonials. The Bestie Boys were playing in Tibet.
6.What made Airwalk’s advertising so successful?
hey hired a great inovator who recognized the young peoples trends. She then actively researched and studied up-and-coming rends while they were in their begining stages. This worked because the ads and accompanying product hit the market as the trend hit main-stream.
7.What is an Innovator?
An Innovator is the adventurous one. They are willing to risks to make great changes.
8.How are Innovators linked to Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen?
They are connected because they take the innovators idea and make changes and lterations. This makes the idea into one that fit well withe their need to make small improvements that works within their system.
9.Do you know any Innovators?
No I do not.
10.How do trends work?
It starts with the innovatiors. They start talking about something they find interesting just to be differet. Then a few others add to the innovators idea and change it to fit them and the it is passed on to others that change he idea a little and this process continues.
11.Give examples of trends in your lifetime.Which trends faded?Which have lasted?Presume the reasons for success and failure.
I discussed this with my husband and he remembered the "louvered" sunglasses, never heard of them. How about the M.C. Hammer pants or also called the perishute pants. He remembers that the skinny neck tie was in in the '50's and early '90's. Not many men wear them now. I remember the era of Punky Bruster because it was my favorite show.
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 duable. Young boys thought of it as an experiment, just something to try.
2.What is permission-giving?
Is a way that gives others permission to engage in an inappropriate act, usually a form of self-expression.
3.How does Gladwell make the connection between Micronesian’s teen suicides and teen smoking in America?
Gladwell's idea is that teen smoking is based on the same theory as suicides in Micronesia.
4.What steps has our society taken to curb teenage smoking?
The steps that were taken are raising cigarette prices, changing cigarette advertising, running public health messages on radio and television, limiting access of cigarettes to minors, and drilling anti-tobacco messages into schoolchildren.
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 they do not address the cause of he epedimic which does not result in change in behavior. He says we need to attack the contagion or the stickiness.
6.What is the difference between “chippers” and addicted chronic smokers?
A chopper is someon who smokes no more than 5 sigarettes a day for only 4 days, it is very contagipus to them but not sticky. A chronic Smokers have to smoke to have continual nicotine in their systems.
7.What were the results of the Colorado Adoption Project?
The results were that there are similarities in the adoptive parents and the child/children who are adopted. The environmen plays a large role in their adoped children
8. Wha is the correlation between smoking and depression?
The correlation is the problems might have he same genetic root. It is found that 60% of smokers have a history of major depression.
9. What has been the effecs between Zyban on smokers?
Depressed people would use Zyban for their depression and in retuurn they would become happier people and eventually quit smoking.
10.What are “addiction thresholds”?
Addiction thresholds are the impute of notine in a smokers body in which they are no longer a chipper. The individual is now addicted.
11.What are the character traits of the smoking personality, according to Gladwell?
The character traits of a smoker are rebellious, irresponsible and truculent.
12.Why are teenagers drawn to these traits?
Teenagers are drawn to hese traits because teenagers are drawn to adolescent rebellion. They a the age of experimentating so they begin to experiment.
13.What are your thoughts about peer influence versus heredity and parental influence?
Peer influence is an easier way to pick up bad habbits, they help in the child becoming who they are. However; heredity and parental influence plays an even bigger role becaus this is where he child gets their morals and beliefs.
14.Whom are you most influenced by?
I am most influenced by my parents at this stage of my life. Peer influence did pay a big part in me growing up though.
15.Do you believe teens smoke because of peer pressure?
I do believe that is why some teens smoke. They really dont feel they fit in any other group, possibly.
16.At what age do kids stop listening to their parents?At what age, if ever, do you think teens start listening again?
I do not believe that teenagers ever completely ignore or quit listening to their parents I went through some "teenage" years of not listening, but I really was listening just very sassy. This was from age 13-16. I'm sure every child is different.
17.Can a safer cigarette be created?
I would think that one could be created, do to all of our technology and science, but I would think that it would caust the smoker way more than it should.
