The general rule of bandwagon effect is that conduct or beliefs spread among people, as fads and trends clearly do, with "the probability of any individual adopting it increasing with the proportion who have already done so". As more people come to believe in something, others also "hop on the bandwagon" regardless of the underlying evidence. Bandwagon is first described by Leibenstein’s (1950) ‘consumer demand theory’. Leibenstein, describes consumers’ demand of goods and services on the basis of motivation; classified in two main categories: functional and nonfunctional.
Bandwagon effect represents the desire of people to purchase a commodity in order to get into "the swim of things"; in order to conform with the people they wish to be associated with; in order to be fashionable or stylish; or, in order to appear to be "one of the boys."
Bandwagon consumption behavior exists when consumers buy a certain product to associate themselves within a specific group, and moreover obtain recognition from their own group. The pattern deeply illustrates the phenomenon of collective consumption behavior which emulates the actions of others, and represents one’s social status, the belonging of a particular group, and conspicuous consumption.
Bandwagon consumption pattern deeply illustrates the phenomenon of collective consumption behavior which emulates the actions of others, and represents one’s social status, the belonging of a particular group, and conspicuous consumption.
In marketing, the companies usually intend to sell maximum number of products to its consumers in order to yield maximum returns and maximum profits. To capture additional and unusual audiences for a new or improved item, it is very effective to convince the unexploited potential consumers that “everyone else” wants the product. A purchase decision can easily get affected by the rating of five stars from several reviewers. People are ready to spend a high amount of money to buy the fashion goods that others are buying.
When individuals make 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 behavior of others.
The consumer behavior literature highlights that people purchase products and brands not only from a utilitarian perspective but also for non-utilitarian reasons such as symbolism and increased status, while the concept is derived from conspicuous consumption.
What is bandwagon consumption behavior?
