Popularity Index and The Tipping Point

When Malcom Gladwell’s The Tipping Point was released in 2002, it was all the rage. “Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do,” Gladwell wrote, and most of us nodded in agreement. The trick from a marketing standpoint was to make sure each product reached its tipping point. The trick from the consumer point of view was to protect ourselves against “false” tipping points, to remain calm in the face of all of the excitement. If anything, these approaches have intensified in the past five years, even as the needs of marketers and customers have become increasingly polarized.

Wize.com gives customers two methods to find the right products and make the right choices. The first of these methods, Wize Rank, collects user and expert reviews from all over the web to help customers understand which products are best. The second method is just as interesting, and very unique in terms of product research: Popularity Index. Wize uses Popularity to help customers gauge the most talked-about products on the web. Coupled with Wize Rank, it’s a powerful offering.

Here’s an example: the highest ranked MP3 player on Wize.com is the first generation iPod Nano [link]. It’s the one that users and experts love most, the one that collective wisdom has determined to be the best. As of today, the most popular MP3 player, however, is the second generation iPod Nano, the newest one on the market. Users and experts haven’t decided that this one is the best, but we’re starting to understand that it’s the one they’re buying anyway. As the second generation iPod Nano approaches its own tipping point, it may well overtake the first generation model. Until then, the Popularity Index tells us something different from – and in many cases, just as important as – the Wize Rank.

We feel that, independent of each other, Wize Rank and Popularity Index only tell part of the story. For a complete research experience, we need both. Please give it a try on Wize.com: compare the most popular products in any category with those that have the highest Wize Ranks. Which products are the best? Which are the ones that you’d buy? We’d love to hear what you think.