Since the bandwagon effect is relevant in marketing, it should be taken into account while developing a brand and during ongoing campaigns. Product, service and website ratings assume major roles in online marketing and when correctly implemented, the bandwagon effect reduces the bounce rate and increases conversion rates.
The bandwagon effect operates on the fact that people frequently orient their behavior around success and status. Aspiring toward status and climbing a hierarchy are ancient evolutionary drives that we still follow today. Therefore, most consumers compare themselves to the consumption level of another group. The “other group” can be within one’s social class or one that is higher up in the hierarchy.
What are the positive side effects of the bandwagon effect in marketing? The greatest significance of this “preference policy” can ensure that the price of a product loses importance as a selling point. Marketing communications can use the bandwagon effect to aim for a higher price that primarily appeals to consumers’ status considerations to boost demand and sales. Other cognitive distortions such as the endownment effect and loss aversion can be used as reinforcement. For example, they can appeal to consumers by focusing on factors such as pride of ownership (e.g. through a test drive) and potential loss prevention (e.g. loss of prestige by not purchasing a certain product or service).
Yet, the bandwagon effect does not produce only positive effects for companies. Business-to-business buyers and marketers are also prone to it by following the market leader or relying on the supposedly most successful supplier when purchasing goods. But when they are aware of the bandwagon effect, they can specifically question or examine their decisions while taking market analyses into account. In this way, innovative and lucrative market niches can be detected more rapidly instead of running blindly after bandwagons.