Abstract:

What are memes and what’s the idea behind this first guest-edited edition of Research World? Memes are contagious ideas spread between people through speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable means. Richard Dawkins coined ’meme’ to rhyme with ’gene' to describe how one might extend evolutionary principles of copying and natural selection, to explain the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena such as popular songs, crazes, catchphrases, dances, religious beliefs, fashion, social behaviour and I would suggest, the spread of successful brands. The guest-editor idea is to provide the opportunity for a fresh, provocative perspective and to engage diverse contributors to share their content and creativity.