FADS

The Hula Hoop, Pet Rock, and Cabbage Patch Kids were all crazes known as fads. These products, like most fads, entered the market quickly, created a consumer obsession, sold millions of units in a short amount of time, and declined just as rapidly. Their special product life cycle of quick, dramatic sales and a sharp, drastic decline differs from the five stage product life cycle concept of product development, introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. Fads have a limited following and tend to die quickly because they do not satisfy a strong consumer need.

THE PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

The course that a product's sales and profits take over its lifetime is the product life cycle (PLC). Marketers know that all products will have some type of life cycle, but the shape and length is not known in advance. In the first stage of the cycle, product development, an idea for a product is formulated and development of the product begins. During this stage sales are zero, consumer research begins, and promotion consists of public relations.

The next stage, introduction, is characterized by a period of slow sales growth, but no profits are made because of the high initial investment and promotional costs. The company begins to inform consumers about the product through advertising, and distribution of the product is selective.

The third stage of the PLC, growth, is a time of rapid market acceptance and increasing profits. Product distribution becomes more widespread, and advertising shifts from being informative to being persuasive. Realizing the opportunity for profit, competitors will enter the market, creating market expansion. Promotional spending remains the same or increases slightly. Prices

may be lowered during the growth stage to attract new customers.

The fourth stage of the PLC, maturity, is a period of slow sales growth and leveling-off or declining profits. Most potential buyers have been reached, so no new customers are buying the product. This stage presents the greatest challenges to marketers. To prevent entering the decline stage, research and development departments may make product modifications to meet the changing needs of consumers, distribution becomes selective again, and advertising becomes competitive because of the number of competitors who have entered the market.

Sales slow and profits drop in the decline stage, usually because of advances in technology, a shift in consumer taste, or increased competition. Distribution becomes exclusive, and sales promotions are developed. Products in the decline stage should have their sales, market share, costs, and profit trends regularly reviewed so that managers can decide whether to maintain the product, harvest the product (reduce various costs associated with the product), or drop the product from the product line.

THE PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE OF FADS

The Hula Hoop has been called the "greatest fad of them all." Developed in 1957 by Wham-O creators Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin, it was modeled after an Australian toy. A prototype was developed and tested on U.S. playgrounds and was found to have the longest play value. After only four months on the market, 25 million Hula Hoops had been sold. In less than a year, sales had almost completely stopped and competition was increasing, so Wham-O entered foreign markets and its success continued. Collectively, toy manufacturers made $45 million off the Hula Hoop.

The life cycle of the Hula Hoop was not typical of most products. A prototype was developed and tested during the product development stage, but the Hula Hoop bypassed the introduction stage and, with rapid sales, the toy quickly entered the growth stage. Again, the Hula Hoop skipped the maturity stage and went directly into the decline stage, with sales coming to an almost immediate halt. Other fads' life cycles have followed this model.

Gary Dahl created the Pet Rock in the 1970s, complaining that dogs, cats, and other pets were too messy, misbehaved, and expensive. Instead, Dahl had a pet rock that was easy to care for and cheap; it also had a great personality. Dahl wrote the Pet Rock Training Manual and created the Pet Rock out of a Rosarita Beach Stone that cost him a penny. In October 1975, Dahl packaged the Pet Rock in a gift box shaped like a pet carrying case, included the training manual, and sold it for $3.95.

Within a few months, Dahl had sold a million rocks and became an instant millionaire. By the next February, sales had stopped.

Unlike the Hula Hoop, the Pet Rock was not tested during the product development stage. Dahl had the idea for the product and quickly produced it with no market testing. Similar to the Hula Hoop, the Pet Rock caught on quickly with consumers, reached its life-cycle peak at the growth stage, and dipped down into the decline stage in a very short period of time.

Artist Xavier Roberts created Cabbage Patch Kids, originally called "Little People," in 1977. The cloth doll was "delivered" at BabyLand General Hospital, a former medical clinic in Cleveland, Georgia, where Roberts had his employees dress in white nurses' and doctors' uniforms. Sales of the dolls were termed adoptions, and each doll came with a birth certificate and adoption papers. Roberts sold 250,000 dolls at prices ranging from $125 to $1,000. National Cabbage Patch mania struck when Roberts signed a contract with Coleco in 1982, and $25 models started selling all over the United States. Approximately 2.5 million Cabbage Patch Kids were sold in the first year on the market, but, like the fads before it, Cabbage Patch Kids had lost a dominating position in the market by 1985.

The Cabbage Patch Kids had a standard product development stage, but its introduction stage was short. Shortly after hitting the toy store shelves, sales skyrocketed and the product entered the growth stage with full force. It entered the maturity stage when sales starting leveling off and the supply was greater than the demand. In an effort to prevent the product from entering the decline stage, marketers at Coleco experimented with product extensions—but to no avail. Eventually, profits began to drop and the Cabbage Patch Kids fell into the decline stage. Figure 1 shows the product life cycle of fads.

Fads are generally mysterious both to their creators and to the public. Although their products were unique, Wham-O, Dahl, and Roberts had no idea they would experience such rapid success. Past fads have included the Rubik's Cube, Beanie Babies, and Furbee. Most fads never really completely die, but they never regain their initial popularity. To understand consumer obsessions with fads, marketers must understand consumer buying behavior.

CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR

There are four types of buying behavior: complex buying behavior, dissonance-reducing buying behavior, habitual buying behavior, and variety-seeking buying behavior. Complex buying behavior occurs when the consumer is purchasing something expensive or risky, such as a personal computer. The consumer must learn about the product line, is highly involved in the buying process, and perceives significant differences among brands. Marketers must differentiate their products' features from other brands. Dissonance-reducing buying behavior occurs when an expensive or risky purchase is being made, but the consumer perceives no difference in brands. They may purchase the brand that offers the best price or that is the most convenient to buy. Habitual buying behavior involves low consumer involvement and little concern for brand differences. Variety-seeking buying behavior is characterized by low consumer involvement but significant differences in brands. Consumers displaying this type of buying behavior often switch brands to experience variety rather than because of dissatisfaction.

Fad purchasers display variety-seeking buying behavior. Buyers of Beanie Babies are loyal to the Ty brand; they will not buy competing brands. Many consumers who buy Beanie Babies switch to the next craze when it hits the shelves. PokeMon became the latest fad in 2000, and the variety seekers shifted again to this latest trend. Until consumer demands and obsessions cease to exist, fads are here to stay.

see also Marketing; Promotion

bibliography

Kotler, Philip, and Armstrong, Gary (2005). Principles of Marketing (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Friedrich, Otto (1983, December 12). "The Strange Cabbage Patch Craze". Time, 122.

Jennifer L. Scheffer

FADS

All Work and No Play …

Although the 1960s were a decade of great social upheaval, Americans still knew how to have fun. A series of fads captured the public's imagination briefly. Toys, hobbies, and dances that everyone could enjoy may have helped Americans keep their sense of community at a time when the country seemed to be splintering.

A DECADE OF BARBIE

One of the most popular toys for young American girls during the last several decades has been the Barbie doll, which debuted by the Mattel company in 1959 at the New York Toy Fair. The first Barbies were slim but shapely, eleven and a half inches tall, and sold for $3.00. Girls could not only collect the dolls but a whole range of fashions ("authentic in every detail," her makers proudly proclaimed) for the Barbie to wear. Although the earliest dolls had dead white skin and limp hair, by the early 1960s her skin tone was more natural and her designers were giving her a variety of hair-styles, especially the beehives and bubble cuts that were popular at the time. Barbie's ever-changing wardrobe also reflected the fashions of the time, from the elegance of first lady Jacqueline Kennedy to the short-skirted "Carnaby Street" look imported along with the British Invasion of 1964.

Like every popular teenager, Barbie soon had a circle of friends for girls to collect, as well. Her boyfriend Ken was introduced in 1961. (Barbie and Ken made it official in 1965, when Mattel offered a wedding ensemble for the two.) In 1963 Barbie gained a best girlfriend, Midge. In 1964 and 1966 Barbie's makers offered siblings for her: first her little sister Skipper, and then the twins Tutti and Todd. In 1966 the public was introduced to Francie, Barbie's mod cousin, and in 1968 Christie, a black friend, was added to the group. There was, of course, plenty for all of Barbie's friends to wear, too: the designers at Mattel added hundreds of new pieces to the group's wardrobe each year.

Source:

Michael Forrest, "Wow! Barbie is Thirty!," Antiques & Collecting (September 1989): 22-25.

Toys and Crayons

Several toys caught on with kids and grown ups alike during the decade. The yo-yo, an ancient weapon from the Philippines that had been marketed as a toy in the United States by Donald F. Duncan since 1923, suddenly surged in popularity in 1961 when Duncan's team of yo-yo experts began giving demonstrations on children's television shows. Over a period of two months New Yorkers bought 4 million yo-yos, and residents of Nashville, a city of 322,000 people, bought 350,000. Wham-O, the toy manufacturers who gave Americans slinkies and hula hoops in the 1950s, scored again in 1965 with the Superball. Made of an experimental new type of rubber, Superballs would bounce for a full minute when dropped. Another children's favorite, the coloring book, made for adult fun during the decade as well: the Executive Coloring Book hit stores in 1961 and was soon followed by the JFK Coloring Book, the Nikita Khrushchev Coloring Book, and the Psychiatric Coloring Book. By the end of 1962 sales of adult coloring books had topped the one-million mark.

It's Only Rock 'n' Roll

Rock 'n' roll music, which was not turning out to be the fad the older generation had hoped it would be, inspired teenage fads throughout the decade. In 1964 a British group called the Beatles was greeted in America by hysterical fans, and the British Invasion—during which groups such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Dave Clark Five dominated rock music—had begun. The popularity of the Beatles was certainly more than a fad: as their music progressed from rhythm-and-blues-influenced pop to include psychedelia and Eastern mysticism, the "four lads from Liverpool" helped define the spirit of the time like no other group. They also provided the basis for a whole industry of Beatles boots, wigs, wallets, games, and movies.

Dancing

Pop music also set in motion a series of dance crazes, starting with the twist in 1961. That dance was so popular that First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy even had a twisting party at the White House. By the time the adults learned the steps of one dance, however, the teenagers had generally moved on to another one. The frug, the watusi, the mashed potato, the pony, the swim, and the jerk all had their brief spells of popularity on America's young dance fans.

Campus Fun

College campuses are traditionally breeding grounds for new fads, and the 1960s were no exception. In 1963, taking a cue from British collegians, American students took up piano wrecking as a pastime. The goal was to see how quickly a group could break a piano into small enough pieces that it could be passed through a twenty-centimeter hole. Telephone talkathons and kissathons were popular campus events during the decade, and at Atlanta's Emory University in 1962 so was going for a spin in a clothes dryer. In 1964 "t.p.-ing" became a fad: anything (or anyone) that would hold still long enough was wrapped in toilet paper. In 1966 computer dating, which matched couples scientifically, was a novel, if not especially successful, way of meeting that special someone.

Beach Party

Surfing was a fad of the 1960s, too, thanks to the music of bands such as the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean and a series of silly but popular beach movies that came out of Hollywood. Beach lingo spread across the country, leaving confused adults wondering if "boss" or "bitchin'" meant that something was good or bad. For those teens not fortunate enough to have an ocean nearby, skateboards let them in on some of the excitement in their own hometown streets. Skateboards enjoyed a brief popularity in 1965, until reports of injuries began to grow, and several cities cracked down on skateboarders as a public nuisance. The fad disappeared for a while, only to return in a big way in the mid 1970s.

SEAT BELTS

Most Americans refused to wear seat belts even if they prevented deaths in car crashes.

Manufacturers also realized that they could sell cars for their safety features. They added lamination to windshields, a thin plastic layer between glass layers that keeps it from shattering as readily. They also added energy-absorbing steering columns. New safety bumpers were designed that did not crush with low-speed collisions.

Ford pursued other options. Many Americans had cars with seat belts, but few passengers wore them. Ford looked at data from the UCLA Institute of Transportation and Traffic Engineering. They conducted experiments such as putting human-form dummies in cars and crashing them. The dummies were wired to show what happens to people in a crash. Ford designed an air bag which would inflate on impact. Using data from the dummy experiments, they found the bags would give adequate crash protection. People did not choose whether to use them: the bags worked automatically. They even tested them in Air Force impact sleds using baboons and showed air bags worked. But the government, facing pressure from the automobile industry, decided air bags were something for the future.

Source:

Newsweck, 71 (1 January 1968): 40.

Source:

Peter L. Skolnik, Fads: America's Crazes, Fevers and Fancies from the 1890's to the 1970's (New York: Crowell, 1978).

240. Fads

1. Barbie doll popular dress-up doll; extremely conventional and feminine. [Am. Hist.: Sann, 179]
2. Beatle cut hairstyle with bangs, sides trimmed just below ears; banned by many school boards (1960s). [Am Hist.: Sann, 251–254]
3. bee-stung lips ruby red and puckered female mouth make-up (1920s). [Am. Hist.: Griffith, 198]
4. bobbed hair short, curly boyish hairstyle caused shock (1920s). [Am. Hist.: Griffith, 198]
5. bobby socks female short socks that epitomized 1940s teen fashion. [Am. Cult.: Misc.]
6. car-stuffing one example: 23 people stuffed in a Volkswagen bug. (1950s—1960s). [Am. Hist.: Sann, 300]
7. chain letters at height in 1930s, craze crippled postal service. [Am. Hist.: Sann, 97–104]
8. coonskin caps raccoon cap with tail worn in recognition of Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone revival (1950s). [Am. Hist.: Sann, 30]
9. flagpole sitting sitting alone at the top of a flagpole; craze comes and goes. [Am. Hist.: Sann, 39–46]
10. frisbees tossing plastic disks was favorite pastime, especially among collegians (1970s). [Am. Hist.: Sann, 178]
11. gold fish-swallowing collegiate craze in 1930s. [Am. Hist.: Sann, 289–292]
12. hip-flask liquor bottle designed to fit into back pockets; indispensable commodity during Prohibition. [Am. Hist.: Allen, 70]
13. hula hoops large plastic hoops revolved around body by hip action (1950s). [Am. Hist.: Sann, 145–149]
14. Kewpie doll designed by Rose O’Neill and modeled on her baby brother; millions were made (starting about 1910). [Am. Hist.: WB, 5: 240–241]
15. marathon dancing dance contests, the longest of which lasted 24 weeks and 5 days (1930s). [Am. Hist.: McWhirter, 461]
16. marathon eating contestants consume ridiculous quantities of food; craze comes and goes. [Am. Hist.: Sann, 77–78]
17. miniskirt skirts hemmed at mid-thigh or higher; heyday of the leg in fashion world (1960s). [Am. Hist.: Sann, 255–263]
18. mud baths warm mud applied on skin supposedly to retain fresh, young complexion (1940s). [Am. Hist.: Griffith, 198]
19. panty raids collegiate craze in the 1940s and 1950s. [Am. Hist.: Misc.]
20. raccoon coats popular attire for collegians (1920s). [Am. Hist.: Sann, 175]
21. rolled stockings worn by flappers to achieve risque effect (1920s). [Am. Hist.: Griffith, 198]
22. saddle shoes an oxford, usually white, with a saddle of contrasting color, usually brown; a favorite fad of the 1940s and 1950s. [Am. Pop. Culture: Misc.]
23. Silly Putty synthetic clay; uses ranging from bouncing balls to false mustaches. [Am. Hist.: Sann, 165]
24. skateboards mini surfboard supported on roller-skate wheels; 1960s craze enjoyed renaissance. [Am. Hist.: Sann, 151–152]
25. telephone booth-stuffing bodies piled on top of one another inside a telephone booth; 1950s and 1960s craze. [Am. Hist.: Sann, 297]
26. tulipomania tulip craze in Holland during which fortunes were lost. [Eur. Hist.: WB, 19: 394]
27. yo-yo child’s toy that periodically overwhelms public’s fancy. [Am. Hist.: Sann, 173]
28. zoot suits bizarre outfits with the “reet pleats” (1940s). [Am. Hist.: Sann, 275]

150. Fads

See also 254. MANIAS .

dandyism

excessive concern with matters of dress; foppishness. —dandy , n.

energumen

a wild enthusiast; a faddist. See also 114. DEMONS .

faddism

an inclination for adopting fads. —faddishness , faddist , n. —faddish , adj.

mania

a manifestation of intense enthusiasm for something; craze or fad, as musicomania.