ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on an issue rarely tackled in the literature: why do norms attenuate, i.e., under what conditions does the extent of compliance to a norm decrease? In order to examine the conditions for the attenuation of customs consider the sending of Christmas cards is to serve as an example. Empirical analyses focusing on the payoff structure of compliance to customs are lacking. Further research is needed to ascertain which kinds of customs exactly correspond to coordination games and which do not. The chapter develops more specific propositions referring to endogenous and exogenous changes of customs. It explores the effects of two types of exogenous changes that affect the attenuation of customs: changes of social networks, and changes in material incentives. The issue to be raised is whether there are any other plausible explanations for the attenuation of customs.
