Analysis Of The Tipping Point By Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell (2002), author of The Tipping Point, presents a theory of social epidemics. Gladwell’s notion on epidemics and human behaviour uses a combination of scientific fields such as psychology, epidemiology, sociology, intragroup and intergroup dynamics to explain the spread of social and cultural behaviours.

In The Tipping Point, Gladwell has explained how things spread from one person to another, whether it is ideas, products, fashion trends, increase in crime rates, sexually transmitted diseases/infections, and any other sudden unexplained changes or patterns. The underlying idea The Tipping Point occurs when a specific trend or behaviour dramatically increases and spreads like a virus.

Gladwell presents the idea that there are three rules of epidemics:

(1) The Law of Few

(2) The Stickiness Factor

(3) The Power of Context

Rule One: The Law of Few

The Law of Few refers to what economists identify as the 80/20 principle. This principle presents the idea that a task is completed by only few people. When referring to the rationale of epidemics, only 20% of the people commit 80% of the work. An example of this epidemic disproportionality would be the tipping of the shoes called Hush Puppies in the late 1994 and early 1995. These American suede shoes were out-of-style until then. According to Gladwell (2002), shoe sales were declining to only 30,000 pairs a year, primarily selling at small town outlets. The company that produced these shoes was contemplating on whether or not to do away with these classic shoes until an unexplained trend began. These shoes that were once dead became popular once again, in a social setting in Manhattan and were being bought in the small-town stores that carried them. Hus...

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...aw of Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context.

Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point, can help the common man understand how little things can make a big difference, and exactly how businesses grow so rapidly. It is these epidemic trends that The Tipping Point dwells around and how a keen understanding of these trends can bring one’s satisfaction and success in life to a new level.

Gladwell makes you see how things can be pushed over the edge and blossom into trends, drops in crime rates or even outbreaks of diseases. The Tipping Point can happen at anytime within the right scenarios. Gladwell said “Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push — in just the right place — it can be tipped”. Gladwell did a lot of case studies to be able to make the claims that he did in his book.