The Bandwagon Effect, Or Believing That Millions Of Cows Can’t Be Wrong
A sentence from Facundo Cabral says “ eat grass, millions of cows cannot be wrong “. This is for u do irony intended to challenge this trend to join the majority, without other criteria. In other words, to go where others are going. And this simply because they are in the majority. In fact, here we are in the presence of a cognitive bias known as the Bandwagon effect or the ripple effect.
Specifically, the Bandwagon Effect is all about believing something to be true just because most people believe it. Those who fall victim to this cognitive bias do not base their judgment on evidence or logical reasoning, but simply on the power of the masses. If many people think this is so, it must be so.
The origins of the Bandwagon effect
It is said that the first to consciously use the Bandwagon effect was the American actor and comedian Dan Rice in 1848. During the presidential campaign that year, Rice used the expression ” Jump into the bandwagon “. It could be translated as “get on the trendy train”. In other words , join what’s trending. It helped President Zachary Taylor rise to power.
It was then that we were able to realize that a phrase like this had enormous influence in feeding already well-nourished masses. It generated a domino effect or cascade effect. This means that it was acting like a kind of “contagion”. People wanted to be “up to date”, to be part of what was in fashion.
Little by little, we realized that the bandwagon effect could have enormous advantages in politics. Its scope has even been specified. People always want to be on the winning side . Therefore, they associate with whoever “wins” a competition, be it political or otherwise. From then on, an atmosphere or a climate is built in which everything tends to strengthen those who are supposed to win.
Bandwagon effect and “ Ad populum ” argument
Argument Ad Populum ”the false claims which, however, coincide with the general opinion of the majority . In this regard, Carl Sagan mentions that he was once reprimanded by a taxi driver, who asked him if he believed in UFOs and Sagan replied that he did not. The driver’s reaction was rejection and skepticism.
The driver believed Sagan wanted to hide the truth from him. If, on the other hand, he had said he believed in extraterrestrial visits, even if it was a lie, he surely would have received the approval of this man, by virtue of “the Ad Populum argument . ”.
Therefore, these types of arguments are closely related to the Bandwagon effect. Politicians and marketers almost always seek to tell people what they want to hear the most. It doesn’t matter if this is the truth or not. What interests them is that it means “join the fashion” and thus gain the sympathy of many people.
The Bandwagon effect also has risks
The question is not so simple for people of power. It is not enough to simply use the lies that everyone wants to hear to win the will of the majority. The Bandwagon effect is also double-edged. Whoever manages to be more popular is also more exposed and naked in front of the masses. Therefore, any revelation against him can have a devastating effect on his image. Everyone pays much more attention to who is “on the winning train”.
It also happens that one of the suitors or candidates can set off a stronger fad. Insofar as followers do not follow a leader out of conviction but simply because of the cognitive bias of the Bandwagon effect, or the ripple effect, they can easily turn their backs on someone who is weak in this logic.. If another manages to profile themselves as a potential winner, it’s possible that many people will start to join, abandoning their previous preference.
The Bandwagon effect has also been called “herd behavior”. In a more derogatory way, it is called the “sheep effect”. It’s worth being aware of this so that you hopefully don’t fall victim to one of these lie sellers.
Our thoughts Social political psychology has been tasked with broadly investigating the factors that influence the direction of our political vote.
