Fad

For other uses, see FAD (disambiguation).
Pet rocks were a short-lived fad in the 1970s.

A fad or trend or craze is any form of collective behavior that develops within a culture or social group and which impulse is followed enthusiastically by a group of people for a finite period of time.

Similar to habits or customs but less durable, fads often result from an activity or behavior being perceived as emotionally popular or exciting within a peer group or being deemed "cool" as often promoted by social networks[1] A fad is said to "catch on" when the number of people adopting it begins to increase to the point of being noteworthy. Fads often fade quickly when the perception of novelty is gone.[1]

Overview

The specific nature of the behavior associated with a fad can be of any type including unusual language usage, distinctive clothing, fad diets or frauds such as Pyramid schemes. Apart from general novelty, fads may be driven by mass marketing, emotional blackmail, peer pressure, or the desire to "be hip".[2] Fads may also be set by popular celebrities.

Though the term trend may be used interchangeably with fad, a fad is generally considered a quick and short behavior whereas a trend is considered to be a behavior that evolves into a relatively permanent change.[3]

In economics, the term is used in a similar way. Fads are mean-reverting deviations from intrinsic value caused by social or psychological forces similar to those that cause fashions in political philosophies or consumerisation.[4]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Kornblum (2007), p. 213.
  2. Domanski (2004), p. 147159.
  3. Arena (2001), p. 341.
  4. Camerer (1989).

References

External links

Look up fad, craze, or trend in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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