Trends and Fads

• A trend is a pattern of behavior demonstrated by a significant number of people within a specific period, implying change due to its influence on people.
• Sociologists view trends as a collection of behavior or mass involvement which is acceptable to society and shows a line of historical continuity.
• Trends depend on the collective action of people, have a record of occurrence in the past, and might continue to the present.
• Trends can reflect or give the impression of wealth and status.
• A fad is a temporary or short-lived pattern of group behavior not associated with status symbols and is taken lightly by the nonparticipating trend.
• Trends last longer and have records of past occurrences, while fads last shorter and don’t have records.
• Trends and fads can both happen in areas of life where change or transformation continuously occurs.
• A trendsetter is a person who starts a trend.
• Trendspotting, according to futurists Alf Rehn and Magnus Lindkvist (2013), refers to the study of trends and the way they develop and affect society.
• Trend analysis, based on trendspotting, extends into developing future scenarios and ranges from spotting a trend both in the past and the future.
• Trend analysis includes Trend-impact Analysis, Trend Extrapolation, S-Curve Analysis, and others.
• The five elements of a trend are Number of participants, Pattern of behavior, Cause, Consequence, and Long period of time.
• The four characteristics or types of a trend are Microtrends, Macrotrends, Megatrends, and Gigatrends.
• Microtrends are little things that happen all around us all the time, the tiny shifts that occur in everything from the clothes we wear to the way we work, play, and love.
• Macrotrends are aggregated microtrends, more sweeping changes that affect society and are more stable than microtrends.
• Megatrends are macrotrends that have grown up or moved out, big and bold and can last for decades.
• Gigatrends are trends that are so general that they affect most area of human life and are usually identified to define an era.
• A trend may also possess the element of friction as it can be resisted due to certain cultures/aspects of different groups of people.
• Trend-impact Analysis uses both qualitative insight and quantitative data to see what might influence a trend.
• An Independent Assessment of Meta’s Human Rights Impact in the Philippines used Trend-impact Analysis to show that meta’s technologies are widely used and has a positive impact on the Philippines.
• Trend Extrapolation predicts where the future of the trend will go.
• Trend Extrapolation projects a trend into the future, assuming it will stay on its current route.
• Analysts’ Forecast for Q4 2022 GDP used Trend Extrapolation to predict what the state of GDP will be for the fourth quarter of 2022 by relying on the trend from the other quarters.
• S-Curve Analysis examines the rise and fall of a trend (quantitatively!).
• S-Curve Analysis creates a forecast of an identified trend using an S-curve.
• Philippine inflation remains at its fastest in 14 years is an example of S-Curve Analysis.
• Number of participants

  A trend is started by an individual, but the number of people who followed become bigger as time goes by.
• Pattern of behavior

  A trend is formed from repetitive actions of people.
• Long period of time

  A trend has a long time frame, sometimes running for decades.
• Long period of time

  A trend may experience some ups and downs in popularity, may fade away, and may reoccur.
• Cause

  A trend has a starting point which can be an idea, technology, event, or person.
• Consequence

  A trend makes considerable influence or impact.