Understanding fads

UNDERSTANDING FADS

AN EXPLORATION OF SOCIAL INTERACTIONS TO UNDERSTAND HOW AND WHY FADS ARE

CREATED.

PRESENTATION STRUCTURE

IntroductionUnderstanding a fad

Mind VirusesHow Fads Spread

Researcher’s HypothesisHow to create a fad

How to avoid early death

Testing the hypothesisPrimary Research

Experimental Research

Conclusion

Crocs, Tazos, Twitter, ZoZos, Facebook memes, Livestrong

bands

Fads are all around us

What is the difference between a trend and a fad? Elvis’s

pink Cadillac was touted to be a fad, but eventually

turned out to be an iconic symbol

Can you deliberately create a fad?

Do ZooZoos actually inspire people to buy Vodafone

Prepaid cards?

CONCLUSION

TESTING THE HYPOTHESIS

FADS-BIRTH & INFECTION

MIND VIRUSES

UNDERSTANDING A FAD

INTRODUCTION

Deliberate Creation of Fads is on the Rise

• A meme called ‘25 things about me’ on Facebook saw a phenomenal rise in

the usage of Facebook notes; which was a previously under-used feature of

Facebook

• The popularity of the meme has resulted in 60 percent more Facebook

profiles being created in the month of January 2009 when the meme hit,

than in the previous month of December 2008 (www.complete.com)

CONCLUSION



MIND VIRUSES

UNDERSTANDING A FAD

INTRODUCTION

http://www.complete.com/

What is a fad?

• The simplest definition of a fad would be that of a

short lived phenomenon, product, service, or activity

that becomes very popular but is not long-lived due to

it’s inherent lack of value

• Fads come quickly into public view, are adopted with

great zeal, peak early & decline fast

• Fads depend on promotion by early adopters and

purchasers of fads display variety-seeking buying

behavior

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION



MIND VIRUSES

UNDERSTANDING A FAD

What is a fad?

Identifying fads-

• A trend that consists purely of hype

• Becomes very popular very fast

• Provides no actual product/service value to the

consumer

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION



MIND VIRUSES

UNDERSTANDING A FAD

Herd Behavior

Social psychologists advance several underlying reasons

for conformity (or “herd behavior”), many of which are

applicable to those who partake in fads

One such force is normative influence, which is operative

when people wish to avoid being “left out” (Abrahamson

and Rosenkopf, 1997)

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION



MIND VIRUSES

UNDERSTANDING A FAD

Herd Behavior

As per the theory, people react to the “bandwagon”

effects (Nohria and Berkley, 1994) simply because they

desire to avoid being a laggard

Another force for conformity, social pressure, differs from

normative influence in that the motivation to consider

fads is not the desire to be amongst the “in-group” but

instead the desire to avoid sanctions associated with

deviance. (Abrahamson, 1996)

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION



MIND VIRUSES

UNDERSTANDING A FAD

Mind viruses

• Some concepts, techniques and ideas prosper in the

marketplace, not because of their economic reproductive

capacity, but instead because of their interpersonal

reproductive capacity

• “Consumption is affected by the behavior of those

around you, and the brain is bombarded by ‘designer

mind viruses’ (memes) trying to infect them” Marsden

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION


UNDERSTANDING A FAD


MIND VIRUSES

Mind viruses

• Advertising memes will be able to infect consumers if

they find a way to gain brain space

• More likely to occur if there is no “immunity” to the

particular meme trying to infect consumers

• Fads are can be linked to viruses - they spread simply

because they are infectious and not because there is any

inherent goodness in them

• The goal of marketing needs to be ‘one of infection not

influence’

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION


UNDERSTANDING A FAD


MIND VIRUSES

How Fads are created

The Law of Few:

• The Tipping Point-

There are a few exceptional people who discover trends and through

their social connections, charisma, personality and enthusiasm

spread the message

• ‘6 Degrees of Separation Rule’ which signifies that people are linked

to everyone else in a few steps

• ‘The Few’ consists of 3 types of special people-

– Connectors who know a lot of people

– Mavens who have a great bank of knowledge

– Salesman who can persuade any one

• A brand needs to be able to determine who these three personalities

are and how to reach out to them

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION


UNDERSTANDING A FAD

MIND VIRUSES



More successful fads have add-ons that allow some level of

individuality while partaking in a fad

• Crocs come in a variety of colors and designs

Jibbitz by crocs allowed customized add ons that could be attached

to the holes in the crocs

• Livestrong had a wide variety of colors representing different social

causes, so that people could choose a cause that was close to them

• You can be part of the herd and yet be individualistic

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION


UNDERSTANDING A FAD

MIND VIRUSES



Mass and easy availability

• A fad has to constantly remind potential customers of its existence

• Products become fads only if they have a strong distribution channel-

in order to flood all stores; and strong PR in order to ensure that

people see celebrities or any other appropriate influencers using the

products

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION


UNDERSTANDING A FAD

MIND VIRUSES



No substitutes

• A fad needs to be unique and cannot have any substitutes or else the

novelty factor is lost

• Both Crocs and the Livestrong bands started their demise after

cheaper substitutes flooded the market

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION


UNDERSTANDING A FAD

MIND VIRUSES


Avoiding Death

The life cycle of a fad can have 2 possible conclusions –

1. It becomes popular too fast and fizzles out with equal rapidity.

These are classic fads that follow the fad life cycle as already

discussed

2. Or a brand becomes wildly popular then continues at a steady

pace. Brands like this are known as iconic

The use of appropriate strategy can ensure that a fad gets extended

into a trend or an icon

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION


UNDERSTANDING A FAD

MIND VIRUSES


Avoiding Death

Dampening Demand

• The worst thing a company can do while setting a trend is to over-

produce. If the market gets flooded with one product, it can lose its

appeal

• The fad will earn some amazing short-term sales, in the long term

such market flooding will undermine a brand’s specialness and

exclusiveness

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION


UNDERSTANDING A FAD

MIND VIRUSES


Avoiding Death

Dampening Demand

• Crocs expanded rapidly and flooded the market. Livestrong could be

seen everywhere. These products were being worn by anybody and

everybody

• Instead of patiently fanning the flames and reaping the benefits of

long term success, these brands added fuel to the fire by trying to

become instant hits

• Overnight everybody was wearing them and then nobody wanted to

be wearing them

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION


UNDERSTANDING A FAD

MIND VIRUSES


Avoiding Death

Resist Line Extension.

• Fad items aren’t purchased for the product value derived from them;

they satisfy a deep rooted social need for consumers

• Line extension dilutes the uniqueness of the product and destroys

fad value

• Crocs didn’t just flood the market with a variety of its classic Crocs in

a rainbow of colors; it added many other styles- Flip-flops, sandals

and an assortment of other types of Crocs

• Livestrong - Bands of different colors for different causes caused the

original message of the brand and what it stood for to be lost

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION


UNDERSTANDING A FAD

MIND VIRUSES


Avoiding Death

Control Distribution

• Crocs went from being available in just a few retail outlets to being

available in every imaginable retail outlet

• That fuelled sales but also hurt the brand’s power with the

distribution. Retailers no longer saw it special being able to stock

Crocs

• Livestrong’s ubiquitous availability dampened distributer enthusiasm

in the product and the social message was lost in the consumerism

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION


UNDERSTANDING A FAD

MIND VIRUSES


Avoiding Death

Focus on Core Consumers

• Many products that turn into fads do not position their product for

any particular segment; they try to market the product to anyone

and everyone

• The brand cannot build a loyal customer phase, and hence boredom

or substitutes can easily cause a decline in the product’s market

• A brand that tries to appeal to everyone ends up appealing to

nobody

• Crocs, Livestrong - Loyalists saw these products on everyone and

immediately moved to some other product since these brands didn’t

make them stand out and look different anymore

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION


UNDERSTANDING A FAD

MIND VIRUSES


Primary Research

• 30 respondents were interviewed on the basis of a preliminary

screening to ensure that they had actively participated in fads before

• The findings from the primary interview corroborate the hypothesis

formed by the researcher

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION

UNDERSTANDING A FAD

MIND VIRUSES



Primary Research

Key Findings-

• None of the respondents could recall seeing advertisements of any of

the fad products that they had purchased. Zoo Zoos were an

exception

• Respondents were successfully able to name key influencers and

celebrities who purchased the same products

• Majority agreed that they would not take part in the fad in any way if

too many of their peers were already participating in it

• Respondents claimed that they would stop participating in the fad if

people they considered ‘uncool’ started participating in it

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION

UNDERSTANDING A FAD

MIND VIRUSES



Experimental Research

• In order to test the hypothesis, an experimental research was

conducted wherein the learnings from my research were applied in

order to create an online fad

• The hypothesis was to be considered valid if a minimum number of

5000 respondents participated in it

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION

UNDERSTANDING A FAD

MIND VIRUSES



The Fad

A meme like activity was designed on Facebook where participants

were supposed to upload silly photographs of themselves while they

were sticking their tongue out

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION

UNDERSTANDING A FAD

MIND VIRUSES



Creating the Fad

The fad followed these basic key principals-

• It was easy to participate in

• It provided no tangible value to the participant

• It was entertaining

• Scope for individuality within a heard

A facebook group was created for this purpose and 18 photos of

friends and family were tagged and uploaded

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION

UNDERSTANDING A FAD

MIND VIRUSES



Spreading the epidemic!

• 25 Connectors with high networking skills were identified and

approached to spread the fad. All connectors uploaded photos of

themselves and updated their status messages urging people to

upload their photos

• Post about the group were regularly posted on other popular groups

to increase traffic to the site

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION

UNDERSTANDING A FAD

MIND VIRUSES



Results

• Within hours of starting the epidemic, there were 300 members in

the official Facebook group

• Reports of people uploading photos with their tongues sticking out

started appearing more and more frequently in Facebook news

streams within 10 hours

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION

UNDERSTANDING A FAD

MIND VIRUSES



Results

• Within 2 weeks of its creation, the fad had crossed 3,000 members

and the following article appeared on a popular technology websiteINTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION

UNDERSTANDING A FAD

MIND VIRUSES



Results

• By the end of the experiment, there were a total of 7,525 members

in the group, and 4874 pictures had been uploaded, hence proving

the experiment to be a success

INTRODUCTION

CONCLUSION

UNDERSTANDING A FAD

MIND VIRUSES



CONCLUSION

• The research objective was successfully met as the

researcher gained a clear understanding of what fads are,

how they are differentiated from trends, their creation and

how they spread

• Additionally the researcher formulated a list of mistakes

brands should not commit in order to avoid an early death

• The successful conclusion of the experiment proved that

the hypothesis formed was accurate and applicable to the

industry

THANK YOU

Understanding fads

Lifestyle

Transcript of Understanding fads