Management Practice Insights
DOI: 10.59571/mpi.v4i2.9
Year: 2026, Volume: 4, Issue: 2, Pages: 126-133
Original Article
Niharika Guptai* , Shubhi Tandon
iS.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research
*Corresponding author
Email: [email protected]
Received Date:01 June 2026, Accepted Date:22 September 2026, Published Date:30 September 2026
If customers see ‘90% prefer Product A’, will they think it is evidence that Product A is better than other products in the market? Such ratings, reviews, and 'most popular’ labels are often used by brand and product managers to help customers make a decision. These signals reduce the time and effort customers spend searching for products and often result in a short-term increase in sales. But a recent by Research Graham Overton, Ioannis Evangelidis, and Joachim Vosgerau indicates that customers may misinterpret consensus as actual preference.1 This ‘Majority Illusion’ presents brand and product managers with a problem. Although such popularity signals can lead to faster adoption, they also raise expectations about a product beyond what it actually is. The customer may eventually get dissatisfied if the product doesn’t meet their expectations, and the product’s reputation suffers. So how can managers decide whether to amplify, constrain or supplement such popularity/ consensus with more transparent performance information? With a framework that considers the size of the actual quality gap between competing products and the communication objective
1 Believe If 90% Prefer A over B, A Must Be Much Better than B. Are They Wrong?’, Journal of Consumer Research, ahead of print, 13 September 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucae055.
2 Jodi Lai, ‘Poll: Toyota Camry or Honda Accord?’, AutoGuide.Com, 23 July 2019, https://www.autoguide.com/autonews/ 2017/09/poll-toyota-camry-or-honda-accord-.html.
3 Capital One Shopping team, ‘Online Review Statistics (2026): Influence on Buying Decisions’, Capital One Shopping, 15 September 2026, https://capitaloneshopping.com/research/online-reviewsstatistics/.
4 Sensodyne, Explore Our Frequently Asked Questions, October 2025, https://www.sensodyne.com/en-us/frequently-askedquestions/.
5 PIB Delhi, PIB’S Bulletin on Covid-19, 3 February 2021, https://www.pib.gov.in/www.pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx? PRID=1694829.
6 CDC, ‘Benefits of Getting Vaccinated’, Covid, 10 June 2025, https://www.cdc.gov/covid/vaccines/benefits.html. Graham Overton, Ioannis Evangelidis, Joachim Vosgerau, ‘People
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8 Denise DiMeglio, ‘Press Release Household Appliance and Electronics Study 2024’, The American Customer Satisfaction Index, 17 September 2024, https://theacsi.com/news-andresources/ press-releases/2024/09/17/press-releasehousehold- appliance-and-electronics-study-2024/.
9 BTB, ‘Case Study: Rolex’, Behind The Brand, 14 September 2025, https://behindthebrandnews.com/p/case-study-rolex.
10 Btarunr, ‘CD Projekt RED Apologizes to Console Gamers for Buggy Cyberpunk 2077 Release, Offers Refunds’, TechPowerUp, 14 December 2020, https://www.techpowerup.com/275933/cdprojekt- red-apologizes-to-console-gamers-for-buggycyberpunk- 2077-release-offers-refunds.
11 Graham Overton, Ioannis Evangelidis, Joachim Vosgerau, ‘People Believe If 90% Prefer A over B, A Must Be Much Better than B. Are They Wrong?’ Securities and Exchange Board of India, ‘SEBI | Investor Survey
© 2026 Published by SPJIMR. This is an open-access article under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
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