Anatomy of a Trend

Had to read for a college class and I ended up really enjoying it and decided to keep even after the class.

A book for any aspiring leader!

I had to get this book for school, and I found it very enlightening and readable. Very good information that makes sense. This really helps understanding trends and how they are created. It gives great examples to help explain the point.

Great book. My only complaint is that the graphs and charts are not available in the kindle version. I hope you can fix this.

This concise book is superior to Malcolm Gladwell's best-seller, The Tipping Point. Gladwell's popular book was based on an appealingly superficial premise: that a trend spreads like a disease, multiplying geometrically until it reaches a population "tipping point," whereafter it increases to epidemic proportions. While that handy metaphor describes how a trend spreads, it doesn't really explain why, nor does it explain why one phenomenon becomes an enduring trend while another becomes just a mere short-lived fad. Unlike Gladwell, who is a journalist, Vejlgaard is a trained social scientist. Like an epidemiologist, he examines modern trends under a microscope, discovering the source of their unique power. He detects, moreover, a traceable and predictable pattern that all true trends tend to follow. An especially valuable book for professionals in advertising, marketing, and product development, and for all the rest of us who want to better understand the material forces that shape our lives. Stephen Bertman, author, Hyperculture: The Human Cost of Speed

Having read Gladwell's Tipping Point I turned to Anatomy of a Trend for a more academically rigourous approach to the study of trend diffusion. I'm sad to say that this book most certainly didn't meet expectations. Written in much the same pop-sociology/psychology tone as Gladwell, Vejlgaard supports his central argument with rudimentary psychology theories such as Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and the Big 5 Personality Index. There is the occasional interesting idea but nothing the you can take away or apply in the real world. Most of the book is supported by lengthy examples which also happen to appear in The Tipping Point like the Hush Puppies or Harley Davidson. If you occasion upon this book in a library then you might get it out, but as for forking over money for it - think carefully and definitely don't but this book in a double deal with The Tipping Point. They are practically the same. Nevertheless, it's a fairly easy read if you have a spare couple of hours and are really interested in this stuff.

I liked the book for its brevity on how trends start. A very simple read through with some good examples to support it. Good book to get started on the workings of trends.