Why Do People Follow The Crowd?
The Bandwagon effect is considered a cognitive bias. This effect influences people’s thinking processes and behaviour because they assume that others are behaving similarly. For instance, people might adapt to a certain social trend merely because other people are following it.
Examples:
- In terms of the political scenario, people are inclined to support and elect the candidate they believe would win the election.
- In terms of social media scenarios, most of the time, people are influenced by others when it comes to sharing and engaging posts on social media.
The reasons behind the bandwagon effect
People and their behaviour are significantly impacted by societal pressure and standard. But other aspects highly influence the bandwagon effect:
Group thinking mentality
This can be explained with the scenario of following trends. If a majority of people follow a trend, there is a possibility that more people will tend to follow that trend. People usually do this as they feel pressure to comply. This is why the bandwagon effect is very easy to establish.
Wanting to be right
People usually prefer to accompany a team or group which succeeds. People also prefer to rely on their social groups in terms of deciding what is socially appropriate and acceptable. This is why when people see that the majority of the people in their social group are doing something they perceive it as the right thing to do.
The desire for social inclusion
People don’t like the idea of being left out, which causes the bandwagon effect. The fear of being left out leads them to follow what most people are doing, and it also secures their social inclusion and acceptance.
What can you do to stop the bandwagon effect?
You can use debiasing approaches which will help you to think and behave rationally. As the bandwagon effect is a cognitive bias, you can reduce it by adopting certain approaches:
- Try to avoid peer pressure before making any…
