If we compare ancient history, Middle ages and Modern history, the behaviour of people have always changed along with the passage of time. People became more aware and knowledgeable over the years and due to this the style, fashion and fads have also changes in society. For eg the attire which was worn in 1940s will not be worn in the 21st century because things are getting obsolete after the passage of time. In fact, it has become necessary for business organisations to keep track of the changing trends, then only it will be able to perform well.
To dig deeper into the matter of changing trends we should first give importance to style. Style’s meaning is not only limited to the new things arriving in the market, it is a basic and distinctive mode of expression. In a a market styles comes, goes and comes back in the market. A style may last for generations, but usually passes in and out of vogue. For eg the sports shoes with different designs which are released during a peak sporting events is a form of style adopted by companies. It has also become necessary for business organisations to understand this behaviour. Apart from style, stress should also be laid on Fashion. Fashion is one of the important facet of product life cycle. In a nutshell A fashion is a currently popular or accepted style in a certain field. In fact, it has evolved every section of the society. For eg, the smartphones we use today has a touch and tap feature, which is fashion today. Nobody owns a keypad phone. And last but not the least, the third facet ‘fad’ has played an important role in defining a consumer’s behaviour. Fads are temporary periods of unusually high sales driven by consumer enthusiasm and immediate product or brand popularity. A fad may be part of an otherwise normal product life cycle, passing through the product life cycle stages. But at a certain point, sales raise unexpectedly, but drop afterwards equally quickly. For eg the sale of masks have increased due coronavirus pandemic. The demand for masks were never there before.
So in a nutshell, changes are bound to happen in future and we all should be prepared for it.
Ronit john 