GOOD MORNING!!!

TRENDS AND
FADS
 What is a TREND?
A trend is basically a pattern or a
conceptualized idea that has the prospect
of providing or having a continuing
influence for a longer period of time due
to its increasing and sustained presence
and effect or even demand among its
consumers in the case of the product.
 What is a FAD?
Trend and Fad are sometimes interchange because many
consider the two concepts synonymous. However, trend and fad
are actually two different concepts. Compared to a trend, a fad
is a short-lived idea or temporary event that is usually called as
a “flash in the pan” because the popularity and reception of
consumers for this idea fades away easily over a short period of
time. To put it simply, a fad has a shorter staying power in the
market. It has a particular beginning and a fixed end of
influence. When a fad reaches a certain point of its popularity,
it declines and eventually disappears in the market.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF A
Fads involve a FAD
lesser number of people and has a shorter duration of
time. They even have shorter durations than fashions. Below are
some of the characteristics of a fad;
1.Fad is confined to particular segments in society.
2.Fad is trivial because of its short life expectancy. It is prone
to being outmoded.
3.Fad is not created but it is just revived from a style that
existed all along in the lives of some subgroup (Meyersohn
and Katz 1957 as cited by Brannon 2000, 53).
 PROCESS OF IDENTIFYING A
TREND
How do we identify trends? According to Brannon (2006),
tracing a trend is similar to the work of a meteorologist who
predicts and tracks weather patterns. A weather disturbance
can bring heavy monsoon rains or even lead to typhoon.
Lawrence Samuel, the co-founder of Iconoculture, Inc., a
marketing consulting firm, identified the different stages that
explain how an idea or look can become trend. According to
Samuel (as cited by Brannon 2000,7), a look becomes a trend
if it undergoes the following stages;
1. FRINGE STAGE – In this stage, an innovative idea, weather in the form a new
product, service, or in other form, develops into the market or become
known to the trendiest consumers. In this stage, entrepreneurial and
business firms participates to develop and innovate ideas.
2. TRENDY – In this stage, consumer and public awareness of the trend grow as
the early adapters participate together with the innovators to increase the
perceptibility of the trend. During this stage, the “most fashion-forward
brands and retailers” asses the viability of the concept. The sally conduct
test-market researches.
3. MAINSTREAM – During this stage, the “conservative consumers” join the
trend. The idea’s popularity and acceptance continue to increase, and the
corporation and company brands exploit the growing demand for that idea.
In this stage, the trend becomes a mainstream product or service. When it
happens, a number of things can occur;
• The trend can fade away once majority of the consumers tested
the product or idea. They could either accept or reject the idea. If
the idea’s acceptance or reject ion occurred over a short period
of time and its appeal was limited to a small number of
consumers, the trend is reduced into a fad.
• When consumers buy or support the trend by doing multiple
purchases, the trend reaches plateau level of acceptance and
stays at that same level. If the trend persists or stays for a long
period of time the trend is called classic. A classic refers to a look
or trend that is always present in some form that is appropriate
across diverse occasions and accepted by diverging consumers
group.
• Another possibility is the fragmentation of a trend. A
trend fragmentation or micro-trend happen when
there is a recent development in the trend or a
reinvention which leads to the fringe stage of a
trend. Diagram 1 shows the process in identifying a
trend. In any stage or process, a trend can face
possible oppositions, or it an also merge with
another trend. It can also be deflected in away that
alters the development of the trend.
Diagram 1. Stages of a Trend
FRINGE

TRENDY

MAINSTREAM

Fad Classic Trend

Microtrends
Trend Persists or Stays for a
Trend
Can Fade Away long period of time
Fragmentation
 ELEMENTS AND CHARACTERISTICS
OF A TREND
A trend has different that differentiate it from a fad. By
analyzing the different elements of a trend, you can determine
its difference from a fad. Below are some of the elements of a
trends:
1. Duration of Time – trends have longer staying
power and enjoy a longer period of popularity.
The life span of the products or ideas that
becomes trends do not disappear quickly as
oppose to a fad.
2. Acceptability – trends are popularty accepted by many industries
and people. Trends tend to stay longer because they receive popular
support from consumers and companies who believe on these trends as
accepted ideas or patterns that can endure time.
3. Cultural Basis – a trend is rooted on the people’s cultural traditions,
beliefs, and values. A trend persists and continues because people have
seen it as a part of their society’s culture, it does not have a short period
of popularity.
4. Transitory increase or decrease – a trend shows a transitory increase
or decrease of a particular idea, event, or phenomenon (Brannon
2000). There are trends that have lasted for a log period of time, like
for example the human population growth or the number of HIV-AIDS
victims in the Philippines. But all trends have potential eventually slow
down and decline.
 DIFFERENCES OF TRENDS AND
Trends andFADS
fads are different because they vary in terms of time
duration, the number of industries affected, industry acceptance,
consumer adaption and perception of overall quality, reason for
rise, incubation period and lifespan, space, and cultural roots.
1. Duration of Time – one major difference between fad and a
trend is duration. A fad product enjoys a few months of
unexpected popularity, but disappears just as quickly as it
appears. The lifespan of most fads is notoriously short, but if
a fad item becomes a trend, it can remain popular for
decades.
2. Number of Industries Affected – some say that the difference
between a fad and a trend is based on the number of industries
it affects. A fad often appears in a single industry in rarely
crossing over into others. The parachute pants or jeans made
from a thin nylon material did not become an accepted fashion
element of young people in the 1980s. But the recent
introduction of apple’s iPod, on the other hand went beyond the
realm of fashion and has become a trend in wireless
communication and music industries. At the present, portable
electronic devices have become a trend, while clothing styles
remain as fads which are trapped in particular time.
 TREND FAD
Apple’s iPod Parachute pants
Portable Electronic devices, laptops,
touch screen cellphones, camera phones Leg warmers
Hair styles

3. Industry acceptance – another difference is industry

acceptance. Investing in a fad item can be risky for companies
known for setting trends. It can be very difficult to tell the
difference between or and the other before the product or
service reaches the buying public. Smaller companies often
have the flexibility necessary to promote a faddish item, while
larger companies tend to wait until the initial smoke clears and
a trend can be determined.
 TREND
Eating more healthy food like organic
fruits and vegetables and moving away
from processed foods and high-carb
food.
FAD
Different versions of individual diet plans
and weight loss programs.

4. Consumer Adaption and Perception of Overall Quality – another

difference between a fad and a trend is the perception of overall
quality. Fad items are rarely expected to stand for a longer period of
time, but trends tend to survive the decade in which they were
created. This can be attributed to the overall quality of the trend
introduced. Trends are items introduced in the market that have
greater consumer adoption due to their effectiveness. Some fads
that eventually lose following are products of false advertising so
they eventually die after a few months or years.
 TREND FAD
Core exercises and the reduction of Faddish exercise equipment that reduce
abdominal fat abdominal fat

5. Reason for Rise – trends generally have identifiable and

explainable increases caused by the consumers’ needs and
consonance with other consumer lifestyle trends. On the
other hand, fads are determined by an emotional need to
purchase, base on publicity and fervent product opinions.
The benefits are in-conceived or not assured, and most of
the time they do not necessarily deliver what was promised
to the consumer.
6. Incubation Period and Lifespan – trends develop
slowly while fads increase, decrease and eventually die
out quickly. Trends have long staying power. Trends
take longer to build and their effects maybe, felt for
year and sometimes even decades. For example, the
teenage mutants ninja turtles license apparel and toys
sale started in 1989 with its licensed sales amounting 2
USD 25 million. It steadily increased in 1990 and 1991
to USD 500 and USD 1.5 billion respectively. But in
1993, it started to decline with only USD 500 million
licensed sales.
7. Scope - a trend usually includes several brands or products
that are applicable to diverse consumer segments, while a fad
normally includes only a single brand or product and has limited
appeal outside of one narrow consumers segments. A trend
possesses some agility and consumers have granted it permission
to expand beyond its current play form while maintaining
authenticity. A fad experiences rapid acceptance among
consumer hop onto the “craze” only to find later that the product
or experience was more difficult or less useful or beneficial than
they thought it would be. Low-carb diets are the perfect
illustration of the differences between fad and trend.
 TREND FAD
Healthy eating has been important to a Low-carb diets were fads within that trend.
certain part of the population for a log time.

A more balanced approach of lean protein, Emphasis on eating food with less fat and
whole grains, and plenty of fruits and protein.
vegetables.
8. Cultural Roots – trends have deeper cultural roots than fads because the
latter cross boarders easily. For example, in the Philippines, many faddish
food items, dance moves, hair styles, an clothes were imported and
adopted from other countries recently but eventually, these fads did not
stay long and just declined easily. This happens because trends do not
cross cultural borders as easily as fads do. Trends have cultural
attachments to the society in which it is introduced. If a fad has no
cultural connection with the people, its popularity and acceptability is
short-lived. An example of a food fad in the Philippines was pearl shake
craze. This cooler drink made with powder and tasty tapioca balls or nata
de coco became very popular among Filipinos but eventually its
popularity declined. Its decline can be a tributed t its lack of cultural
grounding or connections to the society in which it was introduced.
THANK YOU!!!