The Tipping Point

By Malcolm Gladwell
Published in 2000


On pages eighteen and nineteen of this book, Gladwell brings up a new concept to help explain his theory of how epidemics are tipped. This concept is described as three agents of change he calls “the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context. To prove his agents, he uses sound examples to make his point indisputable. In explaining the Law of the Few, Gladwell looks at a commonly talked about 80/20 principle. This principle explains that in some situations, 80% of the work will be done by 20% of the participants. An example he uses is that 80% of alcohol is drunken by 20% of all alcohol drinkers. This shows that a few people can amount to most of the work in a situation. In explaining the Stickiness factor, Gladwell describes a brand of cigarettes that made good use of contagious messages as propaganda. Winston is that brand of cigarettes, and it was introduced with a sticky message, “Winston taste good as a cigarette should.” This phrase, when added with a small jingle tune, tipped Winston and Winston cigarettes were highly regarded. The Stickiness shows that contagious messages can make a big impact on the subject. In explaining the Law of Context, Gladwell looks at a map that describes how many patients come into a public hospital for treatment of syphilis and gonorrhea in Baltimore. In summer, the cases of syphilis are high. But in the winter, the cases drop because people are less likely to travel from their homes. The Law of Context explains that epidemics are affected by the situations they are in.