Social norms are ubiquitous in human societies. Sometimes they are suddenly abandoned without warning, just based on rumors that start circulating in the society. The new norm may be better or worse for society. Some social scientists naively attribute the change in social norms to the presence of deviants in the population, that is, of individuals who defy the norm at their own cost. Yet, often a social norm is tipped over in favor of a new one, even a detrimental one, although there are no deviants in the population. Besides, it is difficult to tell if someone is a deviant or simply a conformist to a new norm!

Consider for instance queuing at a bus stop during rush hour. Upon arrival at a bus stop an individual can either queue so that everyone enters the bus on a first come - first served basis, up to the bus capacity and then possibly waiting for the next bus to arrive; or the individual can jump the line. Of course, society establishes reputational norms that make it costly to jump the line. The situation every bus rider faces is then summarized as follows. If a bus rider faces another, their interaction gives rise to the following payoff matrix

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-i i = normal J Q i = normal J 1,1 Q0, 1 1,0 , 1.8, 1.8 -i i = normal J Q i = normal J 1,1 Q0, 1 1,0 , 1.8, 1.8