Infectious ideas

Hi,

Malcolm Gladwell in The Tipping Point talks of ideas spreading through society like an infectious disease. New ideas are like germs. Some of them reach critical mass and become epidemic. Some of them fizzle out and die.

Some products are more 'word of mouth worthy' than others. They include exciting entertainment products like books and movies, naturally innovative products such as new web tools, 'personal experience' products like hotels and airlines, complex products such as software and medical innovations, expensive products such as IT and electronics, and observable products such as fashion, cars, and cell phones (wearable technology).

If you need to be convinced, here is a selection of the evidence for word of mouth (WOM) that I have collected over the years:

65% of Palm Pilot buyers heard about it via WOM.
Friends and relatives are the No. 1 source for information about destinations, flights, hotel, etc., according to the American Travel Industry Association.
57% of one Californian car dealer’s customers heard about it by WOM.
70% of Americans rely on WOM when choosing doctors.
53% of US moviegoers rely on WOM recommendations.

In fact, movies live or die via early reports from friends and rels. It used to be that a dog of a movie could survive a week or so and make some money before the word of mouth tide came in. But now the 'dogs' die overnight in the US as viewers send text messages to their friends to give a bad movie the thumbs down while they watch it.


Cheers!

Michael Kiely