How Brands Play on Our Beliefs: The Art of Confirmation Bias in Marketing

Confirmation bias is a psychological phenomenon in which people tend to favour information that confirms their beliefs or hypotheses.

Examples of confirmation bias include:

• A person who believes that climate change is not caused by human activity may ignore or reject scientific evidence that supports the idea that it is caused by human activity.
• Political supporters may only read news sources that align with their views, ignoring sources that present opposing viewpoints.
• A person who believes that a certain stock will go up may only focus on positive news about that stock and ignore negative news.
• People may be more likely to focus on evidence that confirms their belief about their partner’s love and affection while ignoring or discounting information that contradicts their belief.
• Individuals may be more likely to seek information that supports their belief about a particular diet or exercise regime and less likely to consider alternative options.
• People may be more likely to seek out information that supports their belief about a particular product, such as a smartphone, and may ignore or discount information that contradicts their belief.