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Fad

A fad is an intense but fleeting enthusiasm or craze for a specific product, behavior, idea, or style that achieves widespread popularity rapidly within a group or society but dissipates just as quickly, often within months.^[1]^[2] In sociological terms, fads represent a form of collective behavior characterized by sudden adoption driven by social influence, the pursuit of novelty, and conformity pressures, typically affecting a specific segment of the population rather than society at large.^[3]^[4] Unlike longer-lasting fashions, which evolve gradually and may persist or recur over years as accepted styles in areas like clothing or art, fads are marked by their brevity, heterogeneity, and lack of enduring institutional support, often emerging from cultural innovations or media amplification before declining due to saturation or shifting interests.^[5]^[6] Fads can manifest across diverse domains, including consumer goods like toys (e.g., the Pet Rock in the 1970s), dances (e.g., the Twist in the 1960s), or even linguistic trends, as well as more recent viral items like Stanley tumblers in the early 2020s, and their "career" typically follows a predictable pattern of rapid diffusion, peak enthusiasm, and swift obsolescence.^[2]^[7]^[8] Sociologists view fads as indicators of underlying social dynamics, such as uncertainty about the future or inter-class tensions, highlighting how they provide temporary outlets for collective expression without leading to permanent cultural shifts.^[9]

Introduction

Definition

A fad is a form of collective behavior characterized by the sudden and enthusiastic adoption of a novel object, activity, behavior, or idea by a significant group of people within a culture or social context, followed by a rapid decline in popularity.^[7] This phenomenon typically involves arbitrary and short-lived enthusiasm, often without deep underlying utility or lasting value, distinguishing it as a temporary surge driven by social dynamics rather than enduring needs.^[6] Sociologists view fads as manifestations of imitative behavior in collective settings, where individuals participate to signal novelty, conformity, or group identity, leading to widespread but fleeting participation.^[10] In sociological theory, fads are often analyzed as abrupt shifts in mass opinion or lifestyle among dispersed populations, propelled by informational cascades—where people mimic others based on observed actions rather than independent evaluation—and normative pressures for social acceptance.^[1] Key characteristics include a rapid acceleration in adoption, a brief peak of instability, and a precipitous drop-off, resulting in a positively skewed lifecycle that rarely recurs in the same form.^[7] Unlike sustained cultural shifts, fads lack historical precedent in their specific expression and are marked by their oddity or impulsivity relative to established norms, though they can emerge in diverse domains such as consumer products, fashions, or social practices.^[10] Fads encompass both tangible items, like the 1950s hula hoop craze that swept millions of households before fading, and intangible behaviors, such as the 1970s streaking incidents that proliferated across U.S. college campuses as a momentary expression of rebellion.^[6] These examples illustrate how fads homogenize group actions temporarily, often amplified by media or institutional factors, but ultimately dissipate due to saturation, novelty loss, or external constraints like social sanctions.^[7] From a theoretical standpoint, frameworks like emergent norm theory explain fads as evolving from ambiguous situations where new norms justify the behavior, fostering quick spread until the context stabilizes or interest wanes.^[7] Fads are distinguished from fashions primarily by their brevity and lack of sustained social integration. While fashions represent an unplanned process of recurrent change occurring against a backdrop of social order in the public realm, fads involve sudden, rapid shifts that spread quickly but fade away almost as abruptly, often without deeper institutional embedding.^[11] Fads are typically trivial variations in behavior or activities, such as the brief popularity of specific dances like the Twist in the 1960s, lacking the pleasurable mass involvement and historical continuity that characterize fashions, which evolve gradually through cycles of acceptance in areas like clothing styles.^[12] In contrast to trends, which denote a broader, directional movement in cultural or stylistic preferences that can encompass multiple successive fashions—such as the ongoing shift toward sustainable materials in apparel—fads are more isolated and unpredictable, driven by novelty rather than underlying societal directions.^[11] Trends persist over longer periods, providing a framework for enduring changes, whereas fads, as modeled in informational cascade theory, emerge from sequential imitative behaviors where individuals disregard private information in favor of observed actions, leading to fragile, short-lived enthusiasms like the rapid adoption and abandonment of certain toys or gadgets.^[13] Fads also differ from crazes in intensity and duration, though the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. Crazes involve exciting mass mobilizations based on positive wish-fulfillment beliefs, lasting relatively longer than fads and often impinging more directly on social institutions, as seen in historical manias or investment booms.^[12] In sociological analyses, fads (or crazes) are viewed as random deviations not primarily motivated by social distinction, unlike fashions, which are constrained by established hierarchies and cultural references.^[14] This distinction underscores fads' role as ephemeral collective behaviors, separate from the more structured dynamics of customs—stable, uniform practices reinforced by conformity—or panics, which are fear-driven flights from perceived threats.^[13]

Formation and Spread

Triggers and Origins

Fads typically originate from the discovery of a novel idea, product, or behavior that captures initial interest among a small group of individuals, such as producers, distributors, or early adopters. This discovery phase marks the inception of a fad, where something previously overlooked or newly invented gains attention due to its perceived uniqueness or appeal in addressing a temporary cultural or social need. For instance, the hula hoop emerged in the 1950s as a simple plastic toy reinvented from ancient origins, quickly identified by manufacturers as having mass entertainment potential.^[15] Once discovered, the promotion stage propels the fad forward through deliberate efforts by originators to disseminate it via social networks, media, or marketing channels, often amplified by labeling that gives it a catchy identity to facilitate recognition and sharing. This promotion transforms the initial spark into a contagious phenomenon, where early enthusiasts endorse it to others, creating momentum through word-of-mouth or public demonstrations. Labeling, such as naming the Rubik's Cube in the 1980s, solidifies its status as a distinct trend, making it easier for participants to identify and join.^[16] These early stages are triggered by factors like technological innovations, cultural shifts, or economic opportunities that align with collective curiosity, but they rely heavily on interpersonal influence to gain traction.^[17] Sociological theories further explain these origins through mechanisms like informational cascades, where individuals base decisions on observing others' actions rather than private information, leading to rapid adoption of fads even with limited evidence of value.^[18] In this model, fads trigger when sequential decisions by early actors—often influenced by subtle signals or chance events—create a bandwagon effect, causing later participants to conform and ignore dissenting information. For example, the 17th-century tulip mania in the Netherlands began with speculative trading among a few, cascading into widespread frenzy as observers inferred value from rising prices.^[19] Such cascades highlight how fads arise from fragile social dynamics, where small triggers like public endorsements or media buzz can initiate widespread but short-lived enthusiasm.

Mechanisms of Diffusion

Fads diffuse through society via processes rooted in collective behavior, where ambiguous social situations foster the emergence of temporary norms that guide widespread adoption. According to emergent norm theory, individuals in uncertain contexts interpret others' actions as cues for appropriate behavior, leading to rapid conformity without formal institutional direction.^[20] This mechanism is evident in fads like streaking in the 1970s, where initial acts on college campuses created perceived norms of acceptability, prompting imitation across institutions.^[7] The theory posits that such norms arise spontaneously from milling—informal interactions that reduce ambiguity—and spread as participants reinforce the behavior, distinguishing fads from sustained traditions.^[20] A key driver of fad diffusion is informational social influence, where individuals adopt trends by inferring desirability from others' actions, often amplified by herding or informational cascades. In these cascades, early adopters' visible choices outweigh personal signals, causing a chain reaction of imitation that ignores contrary private information and accelerates spread.^[21] For instance, the rapid popularity of the hula hoop in the 1950s exemplified this, as consumers followed the perceived consensus among peers and media-promoted users.^[15] Herding creates fragility, where fads peak quickly but decline upon contradictory public signals, such as expert critiques or saturation effects.^[21] Normative social influence further propels diffusion by pressuring conformity to gain acceptance, particularly in interconnected networks where prestige and proximity enhance transmission. Fads often spread contagiously from influential sources—like high-status campuses or celebrities—to broader groups via interpersonal ties and mass media, with coverage accuracy and event complexity boosting adoption rates.^[7] In streaking's case, diffusion accelerated among socioculturally heterogeneous institutions near prestigious ones, where sanctions paradoxically increased visibility and allure.^[7] Bandwagon effects, triggered by chance social strains or charismatic promoters, sustain this until novelty wanes, leading to abrupt rejection.^[22] Modern digital networks intensify these mechanisms, enabling exponential spread through viral sharing, though core processes remain tied to social proof and norm emergence. For example, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge in 2014 spread rapidly on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, where participants nominated others, creating a cascade of videos and donations that raised over $115 million for ALS research in just two months.^[23] Unlike fashions, which evolve cumulatively via market dynamics, fad diffusion relies on transient bandwagon imitation, often non-rational and independent across adopters.^[22] This results in characteristic patterns: steep initial growth, brief plateau, and sharp decline, as seen in viral challenges on social media.^[7]

Characteristics

Duration and Lifecycle

Fads exhibit a compressed lifecycle compared to longer-lasting trends or fashions, typically spanning from a few months to two years. Research on consumer fads, particularly those targeting children, indicates that approximately 50% last one year or less, while over 70% endure up to two years, with variations depending on the fad's type—such as proprietary single-item fads (4 months to 2 years) or thematic fads (1 to 3 years cyclically).^[24] This brevity stems from the inherent novelty-seeking behavior in collective dynamics, where initial excitement drives adoption but fades rapidly once saturation occurs.^[25] The lifecycle unfolds in four primary stages: introduction, where innovators or "fad setters" discover and promote a novel product or behavior based on its perceived utility or uniqueness; growth, characterized by rapid diffusion through social imitation, often accelerated by influencers like celebrities or media; peak, a short maturity phase of intense, widespread participation affecting large populations; and decline, marked by swift abandonment as the item loses novelty and value perception decays.^[26]^[27] In agent-based sociological models, this decline is triggered when early adopters exit upon reaching a threshold of follower adoption, causing a decay in perceived value (e.g., via high decay rates of 0.4–1) that prompts mass exit.^[10] For instance, the fidget spinner fad of 2017 skyrocketed in popularity within weeks but declined sharply by mid-year, illustrating the brief peak and steep fall.^[2] Factors influencing duration include the initial utility value of the fad (higher values enable faster spread but shorter life) and social thresholds for adoption and exit, which ensure fads remain ephemeral rather than evolving into sustained trends.^[10] Unlike fashions, which cycle through longer phases (e.g., seasonal rises and declines over years), fads skip extended maturity, emphasizing their role as short-term collective behaviors driven by excitement rather than enduring utility.^[27] Examples like Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, which peaked with $540 million in sales in 1984 before declining to $210 million by 1986, highlight how economic saturation accelerates the lifecycle's end.^[24]

Intensity and Participation Levels

Fads are characterized by varying degrees of intensity, defined as the level of enthusiasm and emotional investment participants exhibit, often manifesting as zealous or fervent adoption of the behavior or product. This intensity typically peaks rapidly due to social contagion and wish-fulfillment beliefs, leading to a "rush with sound and fury" toward perceived gratification, as seen in historical examples like economic booms or fashion cycles.^[28] In Neil Smelser's framework, such enthusiasm arises from structural strains and generalized beliefs that short-circuit conventional responses, exaggerating the perceived benefits and drawing participants into high-energy engagement.^[28] Participation levels, meanwhile, refer to the proportion of a social group or segment involved, frequently reaching significant thresholds within targeted populations but remaining superficial or short-lived overall.^[24] Empirical studies illustrate these dynamics through specific cases. The 1974 streaking fad on U.S. college campuses exemplified high participation intensity, spreading to numerous institutions in a matter of weeks with over 1,000 documented incidents, and events displaying structured organization rather than random impulsivity. Survey data from 1,543 colleges revealed that adoption probability increased with institutional prestige and sociocultural heterogeneity, indicating broad involvement across diverse student bodies driven by emergent norms and peer influence.^[7] Similarly, consumer fads among children, such as the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, achieved intense participation levels, with sales reaching 20 million units by 1984—equivalent to one doll per U.S. child aged 3-8—fueled by peer pressure and novelty-seeking.^[24] These examples highlight how fads mobilize a substantial segment of a group, often 30-50% or more in affected communities, through rapid diffusion mechanisms like word-of-mouth and media amplification.^[24] While intensity and participation can vary by context, fads generally feature higher enthusiasm in initial phases compared to sustained trends, with involvement tapering as novelty fades. Smelser notes that participation ranges from casual conformity in expressive fads, like teenage jewelry trends, to more committed mobilization in crazes, such as political bandwagons, where diverse recruits join once success appears likely.^[28] Factors like social control severity and media accuracy further modulate these levels; for instance, streaking's intensity waned in environments with stricter oversight, limiting sustained participation. Overall, the high but transient nature of fad engagement underscores their role as collective responses to ambiguity, prioritizing excitement over depth.^[28]

Economic Dimensions

Market Dynamics

Fads introduce significant volatility into consumer markets by generating sudden, explosive demand surges driven by social imitation and informational cascades, where individuals increasingly base decisions on observed behaviors rather than private information. This mechanism, modeled as informational cascades, leads to rapid adoption but also fragility, as new public signals can abruptly reverse trends, amplifying market instability in sectors like fashion, toys, and consumer electronics.^[21] For instance, the probability of a cascade forming rises with the number of early adopters, but such cascades are prone to error, with the likelihood of reversal being approximately 87% higher than under full information conditions, contributing to short-lived booms and busts.^[21] On the supply side, firms face intense pressure to scale production quickly to capitalize on peak demand, often resulting in supply chain strains such as shortages or rushed manufacturing, while overinvestment risks massive inventory write-offs upon decline. Agent-based models illustrate this lifecycle, where "fad followers" imitate innovators, creating spiky sales patterns—contrasting with smoother curves for durable goods—and requiring high novelty utility (e.g., value >1000 units) and decay rates (>0.4) for fads to emerge and fade.^[10] In the case of the gin consumption fad in the early 2010s, market dynamics unfolded through implementation via perceived newness and group differentiation needs, evolution fueled by social media amplification, and extinction when novelty waned, demonstrating how fads boost short-term sales but challenge sustained supply planning.^[29] Pricing dynamics during fads typically feature initial premiums due to scarcity, followed by sharp declines as supply catches up and interest evaporates, eroding margins for late entrants and favoring agile producers. Market segmentation reveals fad buyers as diverse groups motivated by needs like social conformity or novelty-seeking, allowing targeted marketing to extract value but underscoring the transient economic opportunity—fads satisfy acute consumption urges yet rarely build long-term loyalty.^[30] Overall, while fads can generate substantial revenue spikes (e.g., through herd-like diffusion), they heighten competitive churn, with new entrants flooding markets during ascent and exiting en masse during descent, destabilizing industry structures.^[21]

Consumer and Industry Impacts

Fads exert significant influence on consumer spending patterns, often leading to impulsive purchases driven by social conformity and perceived novelty. In the informational cascade model, consumers may ignore personal information about a product's value and instead mimic others' behaviors, resulting in rapid adoption followed by potential regret when the fad wanes. For instance, during the 1975 Pet Rock craze, over 1.5 million units were sold within six months at $3.95 each, generating approximately $6 million in revenue for creator Gary Dahl, as buyers sought novelty without long-term utility.^[31] This herd behavior can result in financial waste for consumers, as evidenced by the post-fad devaluation of items like fidget spinners, which saw millions of units sold globally in 2017 but led to widespread unsold inventory and buyer dissatisfaction by 2018.^[32] On a broader scale, fads contribute to overconsumption and environmental strain for consumers, particularly in sectors like apparel where fast fashion exemplifies fad-driven cycles. The fast fashion industry, valued at approximately $100 billion as of 2023, encourages frequent purchases of low-cost items to chase trends, with consumers buying 60% more clothing per capita since 2000 but retaining each garment for half as long.^[33]^[34] This results in heightened personal debt and landfill contributions, as 92 million tons of textiles are discarded yearly, much of it from fad-chasing behaviors that prioritize short-term gratification over durability.^[34] Psychological impacts include post-purchase dissonance, where initial excitement from social validation gives way to awareness of poor quality or ethical concerns, as seen in surveys of gin fad participants who valued perceived newness but later shifted consumption patterns.^[29] For industries, fads create volatile market dynamics, offering short-term booms that demand rapid scaling but risk oversupply and financial losses upon decline. The Pet Rock phenomenon illustrates how a simple novelty item can capture market share swiftly, with production costs under $1 per unit enabling high margins, yet its abrupt end left manufacturers without sustained revenue streams.^[31] In the beverage sector, the international gin craze from 2010 onward boosted sales through differentiation needs, but required distilleries to adapt quickly to geographic diffusion patterns to avoid inventory buildup.^[29] Fast fashion amplifies this, with companies like Zara achieving $30 billion in revenue by producing 450 million items yearly in response to weekly trend shifts, though it fosters supply chain vulnerabilities, including labor exploitation in developing economies where wages average around $0.28 per hour.^[33] Overall, while fads inject innovation and economic activity—contributing to 2-8% of global greenhouse gas emissions via apparel alone—they compel industries to invest in agile forecasting to mitigate busts, as informational cascades can reverse suddenly, eroding market stability. As of 2024, the fast fashion market has grown to about $150 billion, with textile waste reaching around 120 million tons annually, underscoring ongoing economic and environmental challenges.^[35]^[36]

Sociological and Psychological Aspects

Collective Behavior Theories

Collective behavior theories in sociology provide frameworks for understanding fads as temporary, widespread enthusiasms that arise from group dynamics rather than individual actions alone. These theories emerged in the early 20th century to explain non-institutionalized social phenomena, including fads, which involve rapid adoption and diffusion of behaviors, objects, or ideas across populations. Unlike routine social interactions governed by established norms, fads represent spontaneous alignments where participants engage in novel activities perceived as exciting or status-enhancing, often without long-term commitment. Seminal works emphasize factors like emotional contagion, predispositions, norm formation, and structural conditions as drivers of such collective episodes. One foundational perspective is the contagion theory, originally articulated by Gustave Le Bon in his 1895 book The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind. Le Bon posited that crowds induce a hypnotic, irrational state in individuals, where emotions and behaviors spread contagiously like a disease, overriding personal inhibitions and leading to uniform actions. In the context of fads, this theory suggests that initial enthusiasm from a few influencers "infects" others through imitation, amplifying participation until saturation occurs; for instance, viral dance crazes or slang terms propagate via social mimicry in groups. Critics later noted its overemphasis on irrationality, but it remains influential for explaining the rapid, emotional spread of fads in modern media environments.^[37] In contrast, convergence theory, developed by Floyd H. Allport in his 1924 text Social Psychology, rejects the idea of crowd-induced transformation, arguing instead that collective behaviors reflect the aggregation of individuals already predisposed to similar traits or motivations. Applied to fads, this view holds that people who share underlying frustrations, desires for novelty, or status-seeking tendencies naturally converge during opportunities for expression, such as cultural shifts or economic booms, resulting in amplified but predictable patterns. For example, during the 1630s tulip mania in the Netherlands—a classic fad-like speculative craze—participants were drawn together by pre-existing speculative inclinations rather than crowd hypnosis. This theory underscores that fads do not create new impulses but channel latent ones, though it underplays how group settings can escalate involvement beyond individual baselines.^[38] Emergent norm theory, proposed by Ralph H. Turner and Lewis M. Killian in their 1957 book Collective Behavior, addresses limitations in prior models by focusing on the development of temporary norms within ambiguous situations. It asserts that when standard guidelines are unclear—such as during emerging trends—group members collectively negotiate and adopt new norms through key influencers, leading to coordinated yet rational behavior. For fads, this manifests as initial uncertainty about a novel item or practice (e.g., a viral challenge on social media) giving way to improvised rules of participation, like sharing protocols or aesthetic standards, which legitimize widespread adoption. Turner and Killian emphasized that not all participants fully conform, allowing for variation in intensity; empirical tests, such as analyses of disaster evacuations, support its applicability to fad-like rushes by showing norm emergence reduces chaos.^[20] This framework highlights fads as adaptive responses to situational ambiguity rather than mere hysteria.^[39] A more comprehensive structural approach is Neil J. Smelser's value-added theory, outlined in his 1962 book Theory of Collective Behavior, which treats fads as subtypes of "crazes"—mobilizations driven by positive wish-fulfillment beliefs amid societal strains. Smelser's model sequences six determinants: structural conduciveness (e.g., communication networks enabling diffusion), structural strain (e.g., status ambiguities prompting novelty-seeking), generalized beliefs (e.g., fantasies of quick gratification through trend-following), precipitating factors (e.g., media exposure), mobilization (e.g., opinion leaders rallying participants), and operation of social control (e.g., saturation or backlash curtailing the fad). He defines a craze as "mobilization for action based on a positive wish-fulfillment belief," distinguishing fads like teenage clothing trends or the 1959-60 swastika epidemic (a short-lived vandalism fad with 559 incidents peaking rapidly) from panics by their optimistic orientation.^[28] Unlike earlier theories, value-added integrates psychological and sociological elements, explaining why fads thrive in flexible societies like the U.S. but fade when strains resolve or controls activate, as seen in fashion cycles where over-adoption leads to decline.^[40] These theories collectively illuminate fads as emergent from interplay between individual inclinations and group processes, evolving from early psychological emphases on contagion to structural analyses like Smelser's. While contagion and convergence highlight diffusion mechanisms, emergent norm and value-added theories better account for the normative and conditional aspects of fad lifecycles, informing studies of contemporary phenomena like social media trends.^[41]

Role of Obsession and Hype

Obsession plays a pivotal role in the psychological dynamics of fads, manifesting as an intense, temporary enthusiasm that drives widespread participation within collective behavior. In sociological terms, fads often begin with small groups exhibiting obsessive engagement, where individuals prioritize novelty and social conformity over rational evaluation, leading to rapid adoption. This obsession is fueled by peer pressure and the desire for belonging, particularly among youth, as participants seek to enhance their status and self-esteem through alignment with the trend. For instance, crazes like streaking in the 1970s involved obsessive enthusiasm among college students, spreading through social mimicry before fading.^[42] Hype amplifies this obsession by creating artificial urgency and excitement, often through media and marketing strategies that exaggerate the trend's value and exclusivity. Media hype functions as a promotional mechanism in collective phenomena, generating anticipation and accelerating diffusion via word-of-mouth, social networks, and endorsements, which transform minor interests into cultural obsessions. Sociologists view this as part of emergent norm theory in collective behavior, where hype establishes temporary norms that encourage conformity and emotional investment. A classic example is the Cabbage Patch Kids doll fad of the 1980s, where manufactured scarcity and media coverage of shortages led to frenzied purchases, with parents and children obsessing over acquisition despite high resale prices exceeding $100. Similarly, the Tickle Me Elmo toy in 1996 saw hype-driven sales surge to over 1 million units in weeks, with resale values reaching $500 due to perceived exclusivity.^[43]^[24] The interplay of obsession and hype underscores fads' short lifecycle, as initial euphoria gives way to disillusionment when the trend fails to sustain its promised novelty or social rewards. This dynamic is evident in diffusion theory, where early adopters' obsessive promotion via social channels creates a bandwagon effect, but oversaturation leads to rapid decline. In children's fads, hype from commercial tie-ins and peer emulation accounts for significant economic impact, with tweens influencing $21.7 billion in annual spending through "pester power." Overall, these elements highlight fads as expressions of collective excitement rather than enduring cultural shifts, often critiqued for promoting superficial consumption.^[42]^[24]

Decline and Legacy

Factors in Termination

Fads typically terminate through a combination of intrinsic social dynamics and external pressures that erode their novelty and appeal. One primary mechanism is the exhaustion of innovative possibilities, where participants deplete all feasible variations of the behavior or product, leading to saturation and disinterest. For instance, in the case of the Hula-Hoop craze of the late 1950s, children explored every conceivable way to use the toy until no new applications remained, prompting a swift decline.^[44] Similarly, drug fads among youth end when all relevant settings and combinations have been tested, rendering further experimentation unappealing.^[44] Another key factor is the breakdown of informational cascades, where initial adopters' actions create a herd-like conformity based on inferred private information, but this fragile equilibrium shatters upon the emergence of contradictory public signals. According to informational cascade theory, even a modestly informative public announcement—such as new medical evidence—can reverse widespread adoption, as seen in the decline of tonsillectomy procedures in the mid-20th century once studies highlighted risks.^[13] In fads like streaking in the 1970s, the rapid diffusion across campuses halted abruptly due to this inherent instability, with participation dropping after the novelty waned and collective norms shifted.^[7] Agent-based models further illustrate this by showing how "fad setters"—early innovators—abandon the trend once follower numbers exceed a threshold, triggering utility decay that cascades to others and accelerates termination.^[10] Social identity motives also contribute to fad endings, as individuals balance conformity with desires for uniqueness, leading to cycles where over-adoption prompts differentiation. Game-theoretic analyses reveal that in networked populations, strong uniqueness preferences prevent equilibrium, causing trends to bust once they become too mainstream; hipster subcultures exemplify this by rejecting popular items to signal distinction, hastening decline.^[45] External interventions, such as institutional controls, can hasten termination; during the streaking fad, university arrests and punishments at institutions like the University of Texas effectively curtailed participation by imposing social costs.^[44] Overall, these factors underscore fads' ephemeral nature, driven by rapid saturation rather than fundamental flaws.^[7]

Long-Term Cultural Effects

While fads are inherently ephemeral, research indicates they can exert subtle long-term influences on cultural evolution by serving as selective pressures that alter the frequency of ideas, behaviors, and artifacts across generations. In mathematical models of cultural transmission, fads driven by conformity or anticonformity contribute to dynamic shifts in population-level preferences, potentially leading to cyclic patterns or stable equilibria in cultural traits, such as fluctuating fashion styles like short versus long skirts.^[46] This process mirrors Darwinian selection, where temporary surges in popularity amplify certain variants, embedding them into broader societal norms over time.^[47] A prominent example is the flapper phenomenon of the 1920s, which, though short-lived as a specific style, accelerated shifts in gender roles and women's social freedoms in the United States. Flapper fashion—characterized by bobbed hair, short hemlines, and loose silhouettes—symbolized newfound independence following women's suffrage and wartime workforce participation, challenging Victorian-era constraints and paving the way for enduring changes in female attire and behavior.^[48] This fad normalized more liberated expressions of femininity, influencing subsequent generations' views on gender equality and contributing to the evolution of modern women's fashion toward practicality and self-expression.^[49] Similarly, the 1958 hula hoop craze, which sold over 25 million units in its first four months, with more than 100 million sold worldwide in 1958, left a lasting mark on fitness and performance culture despite its rapid decline. Initially a novelty toy, the hula hoop evolved into a tool for physical exercise and rhythmic dance, integrating into countercultural festivals like Burning Man and contemporary wellness practices that emphasize mindful movement.^[50] Its commercialization also transformed toy marketing strategies, emphasizing mass appeal and innovation, effects that persist in the global fitness industry today.^[51] The zoot suit fad of the early 1940s among African American, Mexican American, and Filipino youth further illustrates how fads can highlight and perpetuate social dynamics. Originating in jazz scenes as an exaggerated, fabric-efficient style during wartime rationing, it became a symbol of cultural pride and resistance against assimilation, sparking the 1943 Zoot Suit Riots in Los Angeles and exposing racial tensions.^[52] These events amplified discourse on minority rights, influencing later civil rights movements and embedding the zoot suit as an enduring icon in Chicano culture and streetwear fashion.^[53] Overall, these cases demonstrate that fads often seed incremental cultural changes, from normative shifts to innovative practices, by embedding novelty into collective memory and behavior patterns that outlast the original hype.^[46]

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Fads: Segmenting the fad-buyer market | Request PDF
Aug 9, 2025 · Our research examines the fad construct. We offer a revised conceptualization of fads and examine the importance of fads in consumption.
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Pondering The Popularity Of The Pet Rock — And Other Fads - NPR
Apr 4, 2015 · More than a million were sold at $3.95 each. The Pet Rock's creator, Gary Ross Dahl, died this week at age 78. Thinking of Dahl and his ...Missing: consumer economic impact fidget spinner<|separator|>
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These two charts show the meteoric rise—and fall—of fidget spinners
Jun 12, 2017 · As a fad, the fidget spinner may have the life of a bug, living and dying in a spectacular but brief fashion. Early June data shows that already ...Missing: examples pet rock
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The Economic, Social and Environmental Impacts of “Fast Fashion”
Jan 10, 2019 · Rapid consumption of apparel and the need to deliver on short fashion cycles stresses production resources, often resulting in supply chains ...
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What is fast fashion and why is it a problem? - McKinsey
Jan 23, 2025 · The fast fashion industry, for all its extraordinary growth, is also responsible for considerable waste. People are buying more clothes than ...
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Collective Behavior: Contagion Theory | Research Starters - EBSCO
Collective Behavior: General types of group formations, such as crowds, mobs, masses, panics, crazes, fads, and social movements, as well as the type of actions ...
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Explaining Collective Behavior – Introduction to Sociology
Turner and Lewis M. Killian (1957) presented their emergent norm theory of collective behavior, which downplayed the irrationality emphasized in earlier decades ...Contagion Theory · Emergent Norm Theory · Value-Added Theory
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Emergent-Norm Theory | Research Starters - EBSCO
Emergent norm theory emerged as a theory of collective behavior to address the deficiencies in both contagion and convergence theory.Emergent Norm Theory · Description of Collective... · Emergent Norm Theory...
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(PDF) Looking at Smelser's Theory of Collective Behavior After ...
Aug 5, 2025 · Interest in other forms such as fads, hysteria and panic studied by earlier students has also lessened. Political social movement scholars ...<|separator|>
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Collective Behavior and Social Movements - MIT
Turner and Killian (1987) stress the importance of "emergent norms" for understanding collective behavior. In developing the contrast between emergent and ...
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[PDF] Collective Behavior and Social Movements - 2012 Book Archive
Several types of collective behavior exist, including crowds, riots, disaster behavior, social movements, rumors, and fads and crazes. 3. The early ...
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[PDF] Notes on Hype - International Journal of Communication
Oct 18, 2011 · This article provides a series of notes that define, describe, and theorize the concept of hype as a pertinent one for the field of media ...
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The Social Organization and Social Control of a Fad - Sage Journals
Second, the termination of fads is largely explained by the exhaustion of innova tive possibilities. The drug has been tested in all the apparently relevant ...<|control11|><|separator|>
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[PDF] A Game Theoretic Analysis of Social Identity, Trends and Fads
Dec 22, 2020 · The paper proposes a theory of social identity based on motives to conform and be unique, modeling social dynamics that don't converge to ...Missing: origins | Show results with:origins
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On randomly changing conformity bias in cultural transmission | PNAS
### Summary of Key Findings on Fads and Long-Term Cultural Evolution
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Stanford researchers model the role of influencers in shaping fads
Sep 7, 2021 · A new study offers up a more realistic modeling of the rise and fall of fads as culture evolves and is transmitted to new generations.
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[PDF] Flapper Fashion In the Context of Cultural Changes of America in ...
The rise of the flapper generation is one of the key evidences of the changing status of women in the American society, who came to assume leadership as a new ...
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The Biggest Fads of the Last 100 Years - 24/7 Wall St.
May 28, 2023 · Fads come in many forms, some are toys, fashion trends, dances, or exercise methods, and some recent fads center around the internet. Of the 60 ...
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The Iconic Hula Hoop Keeps on Rolling - Smithsonian Magazine
(The rhythm of hooping helps clear the mind, devotees say.) It has been adopted by both counterculture—it is a fixture at Burning Man—and digital culture. This ...
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Hula Hoop Is Marketed | Research Starters - EBSCO
However, like many fads, the Hula Hoop's popularity waned after a couple of years, although its impact on toy marketing and culture remains significant.
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Zoot suit: How the first truly American suit shaped fashion
Jun 13, 2023 · The zoot suit was vilified by L.A. authorities during the Zoot Suit Riots in 1943. But its dandy-ish profile continues to influence fashion.Missing: fad | Show results with:fad
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The lasting impact of the Zoot Suit Riots - Santa Fe New Mexican
Jun 16, 2018 · You might just think of zoot suits as a nod to a bygone era, but this staple of Chicano fashion is an important symbol of cultural resistance ...Missing: fad | Show results with:fad

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