Editing Bandwagon effect (section)

== Causes and factors ==
Individuals are highly influenced by the pressure and norms exerted by groups. As an idea or belief increases in popularity, people are more likely to adopt it; when seemingly everyone is doing something, there is an incredible pressure to [[Conformity|conform]].<ref name=":1" /> Individuals' impressions of public opinion or preference can originate from several sources.

Some individual reasons behind the bandwagon effect include:

* Efficiency — Bandwagoning serves as a mental shortcut, or [[heuristic]], allowing for decisions to be made quickly. It takes time for an individual to evaluate a behaviour or thought and decide upon it.<ref name=":5" />
* [[Normative social influence]] ([[Belongingness|belonging]]) — People have the tendency to conform with others out of a desire to fit in with the crowd and gain approval from others.<ref name=":4" /> As conformity ensures some level of social [[Social exclusion|inclusion]] and [[Social acceptance|acceptance]], many people go along with the behaviours and/or ideas of their group in order to avoid being the odd one out.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5" /> The '[[spiral of silence]]' exemplifies this factor.
* [[Informational Social Influence|Informational social influence]] — People tend to conform with others out of a desire to be right, under the assumption that others may know something or may understand the situation better.<ref name=":4" /> In other words, people will support [[popular belief]]s because they are seen as correct by the larger social group (the 'majority').<ref name=":5" /> Moreover, when it seems as though the majority is doing a certain thing, ''not'' doing that thing becomes increasingly difficult.<ref name=":1" /> When individuals make [[rationality|rational]] choices based on the information they receive from others, economists have proposed that [[information cascades]] can quickly form in which people decide to ignore their personal information signals and follow the behaviour of others.<ref name=":2" />
* [[Fear of missing out]] — People who are anxious about 'missing out' on things that others are doing may be susceptible to the bandwagon effect.<ref name=":4" />
* Being on the 'winning side' — The desire to support a "winner" (or avoid supporting a "loser") can be what makes some susceptible to the bandwagon effect, such as in the case of voting for a candidate because they're in the lead.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" />

{{Failed verification span|text=Another cause can come from distorted perceptions of mass opinion, known as '[[False consensus effect|false consensus]]' or '[[pluralistic ignorance]]'.| date = August 2022 | reason = The reference says that rationalization/projection to support one own positions can lead to false consensus effect and pluralistic ignorance, and the rationalization/projection is a source of how one perceives public opinion.  It doesn't say these are causes for the bandwagon effect.}} In politics, bandwagon effects can also come as result of indirect processes that are mediated by political actors. Perceptions of popular support may affect the choice of activists about which parties or candidates to support by donations or voluntary work in campaigns.<ref name=":6" />

=== Spread ===
The bandwagon effect works through a [[Self-reinforcing feedback|self-reinforcing]] mechanism, and can spread quickly and on a large-scale through a [[positive feedback loop]], whereby the more who are affected by it, the more likely other people are to be affected by it too.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" />

A new concept that is originally promoted by only a single advocate or a minimal group of advocates can quickly grow and become widely popular, even when sufficient supporting evidence is lacking. What happens is that a new concept gains a small following, which grows until it reaches a [[Critical mass (sociodynamics)|critical mass]], until for example it begins being covered by [[mainstream media]], at which point a large-scale bandwagon effect begins, which causes more people to support this concept, in increasingly large numbers. This can be seen as a result of the [[availability cascade]], a self-reinforcing process through which a certain belief gains increasing prominence in public discourse.<ref name=":4" />

{{Further|Collective cognitive imperative}}