What is Bandwagon effect in Psychology?

October 11, 2017 12:15 am | Updated 12:15 am IST

This refers to the tendency among people to do something simply because others around them are doing it. The bandwagon effect causes people to ignore their own beliefs and independent thought process, instead leading them to find comfort in the wisdom of the crowd. It has been seen as the root cause behind the prevalence of irrational beliefs and practices among the masses, as everyone jumps onto the bandwagon of conventional opinion.

The most common example of the bandwagon effect is the prevalence of bullish and bearish sentiments in financial markets, which causes asset prices to deviate significantly from their underlying value.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.