Repetition raises perceived truth, even for claims the person can recognise as false.
Hasher, Goldstein and Toppino's 1977 finding, and the uncomfortable part: repetition raises perceived truth even for statements the person can identify as false when asked directly. It is the mechanism behind advertising and propaganda alike.
In practice
- A claim about a competitor circulates internally for two years and is treated as background by people who could not source it.
- A statistic quoted in three separate meetings becomes the number in the board paper, and no one can find its origin.
- Further reading
- Wikipedia
- Subject
- Communication & Media
- Essay
- What happens to a message after it is sent