Malcolm Gladwell Stickiness Factor Analysis

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Recommended: Children and TV advertising

On the front cover of my copy of The Tipping Point, there is a subtitle that says “How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference”, and this statement could not more accurately describe the contents of Malcom Gladwell’s first book. I have been pleasantly surprised by the contents of this small, 280-page book; I am only three chapters in and already I feel as if it has changed the way I think about the choices I make in my day-to-day life. For example, Gladwell forces the reader to think beyond the brand name, such as in his opening example of Hush Puppy shoes, and instead asks the less obvious questions: how did they become popular? Why? Although Gladwell has written an intriguing opening to his novel, so far I have found the third chapter to be the most interesting concept he has so far brought to the reader’s attention: The Stickiness Factor. The ideas behind the Stickiness Factor are already concepts that most people in modern day society …show more content…

One of these is where you can actually find an application of the Stickiness Factor. Gladwell goes in to great detail of the Stickiness Factor and how it was used in the development of children’s TV shows, but that is about it. On pages 91-99, he briefly relates it to advertising before changing it back to the concept of its usage in television shows. I really wish that Gladwell would have further explored this application of the Stickiness Factor. I can kind of understand how it is used based off the example with the treasure chest in the ad, and how that makes it stick with the reader, but that is the only example Gladwell gives. I am left wondering because this idea does not reach the full level of development as the idea with its usage in children’s television

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