Studies of Fads: I. the “Hit Parade”

Abstract

On the basis of certain theoretical formulations dealing with the effects of repetition in behavior and outlined in greater detail elsewhere, a number of predictions are made involving the behavior pattern of songs on the Hit Parade. According to this view, loss in popularity of songs would be mediated by semantic satiation developed as a result of massed and continued exposure. It was predicted that rate of loss in popularity would be directly proportional to the relative amount of massed exposure that accompanied a particular song during its rise in popularity. Using weekly listings of Hit Parade songs, various indices of saturation value and rate of decline were developed. Three separate analyses showed the following: (1) the predicted correlations were significant and substantial in all cases; (2) they were stable and replicable with two different samples of songs; (3) the predictions held only under the defined conditions of massed and continued repetition.