article Open AccessTop 1% cited
Learning from the Behavior of Others: Conformity, Fads, and Informational Cascades
The Journal of Economic Perspectives · 1998 · Vol. 12(3) · pp. 151–170
Abstract
Learning by observing the past decisions of others can help explain some otherwise puzzling phenomena about human behavior. For example, why do people tend to converge on similar behavior? Why is mass behavior prone to error and fads? The authors argue that the theory of observational learning, and particularly of informational cascades, has much to offer economics, business strategy, political science, and the study of criminal behavior.
Opinion Dynamics and Social InfluenceExperimental Behavioral Economics StudiesGame Theory and ApplicationsConformityObservational learningInformation cascadeCriminal behaviorPsychologySocial learningPositive economicsSocial psychologyEconomicsCognitive psychology
Citations
1,931
FWCI
20.88
field-weighted impact
References
38
Percentile
100%
vs. same field & year
Citations per year
Cited by
Models of technology diffusion
Research Policy · 2000 · 1,533 citations
Influentials, Networks, and Public Opinion Formation
Journal of Consumer Research · 2007 · 1,875 citations
Social influences on foraging in vertebrates: causal mechanisms and adaptive functions
Animal Behaviour · 2001 · 714 citations
References
Competing Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-In by Historical Events
The Economic Journal · 1989 · 7,184 citations
A Simple Model of Herd Behavior
The Quarterly Journal of Economics · 1992 · 6,494 citations
Related articles
Learning from the Behavior of Others: Conformity, Fads, and Informational Cascades
The Journal of Economic Perspectives · 1998 · 1,931 citations
Citation Network
How this paper connects to the literature. Drag to explore, click any node to open that paper.