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Thursday, October 30, 2008

Obama's Popularity: Bandwagon effect

Many people can't figure out why Obama is so popular. Here's one suppostion:

Bandwagon effect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
"The bandwagon effect occurs in voting: some people vote for those candidates or parties who are likely to succeed (or are proclaimed as such by the media), hoping to be on the 'winner's side' in the end.[4] The bandwagon effect has been applied to situations involving majority opinion, such as political outcomes, where people alter their opinions to the majority view (McAllister and Studlar 721). Such a shift in opinion can occur because individuals draw inferences from the decisions of others, as in an informational cascade."

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