Can a certain psychological effect influence consumer behaviour? Could it even be one of the factors to consider in market, fashion or political fluctuations? If you stick around to the end, you will be surprised by the answer…
What is the effect Bandwagon?
This is a psychological theory according to which people perform certain behaviors only because the vast majority have done them previously, even though it may go against our tastes, preferences or beliefs.
So, if we are in a time when the vast majority of people are inclined to buy their own homes, even though we have always said that we would never do so because we think it is better to rent a home, the truth is that we will end up buying one, even if we take out a mortgage until we are old.
However, this cognitive bias can also be found in other consumer behaviours, in fashion or even in politics. In any case, the point is to try to belong to the “winning group” because, in this way, we reinforce our own self-esteem.
Why does this effect occur?
The causes may be diverse:
- Need to belong to a groupsharing their values, behaviors and the tendency to believe that what the majority does is correct
- Opportunismso if we assume the opinion of the majority as correct, we expect to obtain a benefit, because of the saying “if the majority thinks it, it can’t be wrong” or we do not assume our own responsibility, passing it on to said majority, giving rise to social apathy. In this way, if the market tells us that it is not time to buy a house, probably, the majority will not do so and we will let ourselves be “dragged” by said trend (“drag” effect, is another of the names that has been given to the Bandwagon effect)
- Protecting our self-esteem If we are on the “winning side,” it doesn’t really matter whether it’s a good choice or not. So, if in a fluctuating housing market, we decide to rent a home just before a housing bubble hits, we are on the “winning side,” regardless of whether it is the best choice in the long run or not. In addition, our decision is less likely to have been criticized by those around us.
How to avoid the effect Bandwagon?
This effect, also known as the “bandwagon effect”, “herd effect” or “fashion effect”, is created by a cognitive bias such that consumers do not base their opinions on facts or logical reasoning but only on the power of the group, so that they believe that what the majority says is correct.
Therefore, it would consist of depending less on the opinions of others, and trying to be more rational in making decisions when consuming in the real estate market.
Is there a clear application of this effect in Psychology?
Indeed, it is present in many more aspects of our lives than we can imagine.
- Real estate psychologyOne of the clearest examples is the creation of bubbles such as the Spanish real estate bubble, which appeared around ideas that were being accepted by the majority, although they were wrong, such as “apartments never go down in price”, “investing in housing is a safe value” or “apartments pay for themselves with the rent”.
- Psychology of consumption among which we find:
- Recording industry and publishingBoth use either the success rankings or the number of sales to increase the demand for those products and this, in turn, has a huge influence on the decision-making of the consumer who will lean more towards a CD or a book by an artist or an author for whom many people have already decided.
- Fashion. When a certain type of clothing becomes widespread, the probability that more people will buy it increases. In fact, that is why brands now use influencers, since they have many followers and, therefore, the probability of selling the brand in question increases. If, in addition, we know that most people buy this brand or wear certain clothes, shoes or accessories even if, a priori, we do not feel very comfortable with them, it is possible that we will end up buying them.
- Neuromarketing. Both for creating a brand and for subsequent campaigns, the evaluations made by users and, therefore, potential consumers of a product or service are very important. We have all been “swept away” by positive evaluations at some point, while we have given up if the evaluations were negative. This helps to reduce the bounce rate and increase the conversion rate of potential users to real users.
- Psychology of politicsDuring election campaigns, the Bandwagon effect applies to voters who remain poorly informed or who do not have a clear political definition – which, most of the time, vote for totally opposite parties depending on the call – Therefore, politicians need to be well positioned when the typical polls appear since it will be essential to appear on the “winning side” so that the undecided make the decision to vote.
- Social psychologyThe tendency that we as people have to have the same beliefs and behaviors as the majority of the group is called groupthink in social psychology, and it affects practically all areas of our lives from education to health, including all those mentioned above.