The mean-field approximation method is proposed to investigate the intrinsi
c optical bistability in nonlinear composite media, which consists of nonli
near metallic granules embedded in nonlinear dielectric host. The effect of
nonlinear susceptibility on the bistable behavior is analyzed. It is found
that nonlinear metallic granules and nonlinear host medium have different
effects and the nonlinearity of metallic granules is more effective in mini
mizing the threshould value of the bistable behavior. We also investigate t
he effect of the shape factor of metallic granules on the threshold value.