Adoption Speed and Fading Tastes

Adoption Speed and Fading Tastes

Reviewed by Faisal Zaidi

The finding that cultural tastes adopted quickly tended to die out sooner.

What it is

It comes from more than a hundred years of first-name data from France and the United States, with expecting parents hesitating over names that had recently surged. It is drawn from work by Jonah Berger and Gaël Le Mens (2009).

In effect

In the article on why we want to be first to own it: the value of an early position falls, it serves as a taste spreads.

What it does not say

The data are first names in two countries, so the finding does not show that quick adoption shortens the life of every kind of taste. The authors offer concern about symbolic value as the explanation and set it against explanations based on saturation.

Sources

  1. Berger, J., & Le Mens, G. (2009). How adoption speed affects the abandonment of cultural tastes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(20), 8146-8150.