The media play a critical role in modern society because they are the carriers of information about how people behave. And, the evidence from social science is clear that information about others’ behavior can have a contagious effect—leading observers to behave similarly, which can lead still more and more observers to conform ( Cialdini , 2001). In the economic arena, marketing professionals understand how to harness this power. Television commercials depict crowds rushing into stores and hands depleting shelves of the product. Advertisers proclaim their products as the “largest selling” or...

Are you sick of banner ads, commercials, and brand names depicted everywhere? You might think this way of advertising is pointless since it will not influence you anyway. However, psychological research has identified how branding hacks into your mind and how you can prevent this. Think of the last time you interacted with a person wearing brand-name clothes. For instance talking with those “cool” people with the RayBan pilot-glasses, where you do not see their eyes but only this little logo. Do you think perceiving this little logo influences you? Say, prompts you to chose a RayBan product...

When reading horoscopes, we often find sentences like: "Sometimes you are extroverted, sociable, and open-minded, sometimes rather introverted, skeptical, and reserved." If you feel that this statement applies to you, you're not alone. Horoscopes often seem to be very accurate; an observation that might be attributed to the Barnum effect.