The Tipping Point

The Law Of The Few:

• Salesmen- Tom Gau
  
• Mavens- Mark Alpert
• Connectors- Word of Mouth epidemic-The British are coming

Epidemics

• Hushpuppies
• Crime- New York-Fluxuation in crime rates

The Power Of Context (Part 1)

• Rise and fall of NYC crime- Broken windows theory-Crime epidemic
• Bernie Goetz- Fare beating- Graffeti

The Power of Context (Part 2)

• The Magic Number One Hundred and Fifty
• Gore Tex
• Ya Ya Sisterhood

The Stickiness Factor

• Blues Clues- Todd Kessier
  
• Sesame St- The distractor
  
• Educational Virus
  
• Lester Wunderman- Treasure hunt
• Gold Boxes

Case Study: Rumours, Sneakers, and the Power Of Translation

• Disstortion and Rumour
• Translation
• Airwalk
• Risktakers

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

• Teenage smoking
• Suicide
  

Suicide In Micronesia

• SuicideEpidemic in Micronesia- In 1980's Micronesia had the highest suicide rate per capita than anywhere else in the world- Mainly boys- aged between 15-25
  
• Ritual of adolescence - Domestic- Embedded in Local Culture
• Anthropologist- Donald Rubinstein- Suicide expressed- Adolescents influenced by songs composed locally and aired on Micronesian radio stations-Also influenced by graffiti adorning T-shirts and high school walls- Experimental play- 11 yr old boy wanted to "try" out hanging- Several cases of young adolescent suicide deaths in Micronesia were evidently the outcome of such experiments- Fascination of suicide to young men- lethality of the act of suicide seems to be trivialised- Suicide acts have acquired an experimental almost recreational element
• Contagious epidemic of self-destruction- experimentation, imitation and rebellion
• Suicide amongteenagers, has become an important form of self expression
• David Phillips University of California at San Diego- Front page suicides triggered more suicides- Marilyn Munroe- Triggered a 12% increase in the national suicide rate- Increase of traffic accidents- Delibrately crashing cars
• Conscious/Unconscious decisions- people are vulnerable to suggestion i.e jaywalking- Mental Illness- Self-aggression
  
• Permission givers-salesmen- people who die in highly publicised suicides give others "permission " to die- this serves as the Tipping Point in suicide epidemics
• Death of R. charismatic scion of wealthy family- Romantic despair- R. was the Tipping person, he was the salesman- Combination of R's. personality and circumstances was the beginning of many similar suicides

Teenage Smoking in the West-

• Hans Eysenck-Hard-core smoker-Extrovert, socialable, impulsive, aggressive, not always reliable
• Heavy smokers- greater sex drive- Greater levels of misconduct- Less likely to lie
• Smoking was never cool, Smokers are cool
  
• Intitial Reaction to Smoking- Smoking is not instantly addictive-"Chippers" people for whom smoking is contagious but not sticky-General escalation of habbit-People incontrol of their habbit, like social drinkers- Genetics-Influence of peers- children of smokers are more likely to smoke
• Smoking and depression- Nicotine as an antidepressant