What is a Bandwagon Effect?
The bandwagon effect is an observed social behavior in which people tend to go along with what others do or think without considering their actions. The likelihood of a bandwagon effect is greatly increased as more and more people adopt an idea or behavior; this has led to the pejorative description “herd effect” in reference to this interesting behavioral phenomenon. The bandwagon effect can be seen at almost all levels of human interaction, and being aware of its influence on you can help you make calculated decisions which are based on your beliefs and values rather than the temptation to go along with a group.
The bandwagon effect is an observed social behavior in which people tend to go along with what others do or think without considering their actions. The likelihood of a bandwagon effect is greatly increased as more and more people adopt an idea or behavior; this has led to the pejorative description “herd effect” in reference to this interesting behavioral phenomenon. The bandwagon effect can be seen at almost all levels of human interaction, and being aware of its influence on you can help you make calculated decisions which are based on your beliefs and values rather than the temptation to go along with a group. Social psychologists consider the bandwagon effect to be one among a large group of cognitive biases. A cognitive bias is a behavior which is based on memory, statistical, and social attribution errors. The bandwagon effect is reinforced by a number of other cognitive biases and psychological phenomena. When people all decide to join a social networking site or listen to the
