Bandwagon Appeal

A fallacy based on the technique prominent in advertising that if popular people use a [Page 41]particular product, the product itself is popular and of high quality. Many who buy the product do not take into consideration that the celebrity touting the merchandise is paid to do so. Also, the bandwagon appeal becomes operative when some product, entertainment, and other such thing becomes faddish because of word-of-mouth or other communicative techniques. An appeal to popularity is very strong and involves peer pressure to wear a certain type of clothing, drive a certain model automobile, or go to a popular school or college. Such “snob appeals” are prevalent among all classes. The use of the phrase “Everyone else is doing it” is a good example of ...