A belief gains credence through repetition in public discourse rather than through evidence, and becomes self-reinforcing.
Kuran and Sunstein's cases include the 1989 Alar apple scare, which reduced apple sales sharply on evidence that did not support the alarm. Each repetition raises the cost of public scepticism.
In practice
- A neighbourhood becomes known as dangerous through repetition on a local group, and the repetition is the whole of the evidence.
- A management fad appears in three conference talks, then in a board paper as established practice, having acquired no new support in between.
- Further reading
- Wikipedia
- Subject
- Networks & Collective Behavior
- Essay
- How connections shape what crowds do