How confirmation bias decides what you watch, read, and purchase

Think about the last time you bought something big, such as a new phone, a laptop, or maybe even a car.

You probably read a dozen reviews, watched a few YouTube videos, and then almost unconsciously paid more attention to the ones that confirmed what you already wanted to believe.

That small, familiar satisfaction of being “right” isn’t a coincidence. It’s psychology. It’s confirmation bias, the invisible hand guiding not just what we buy, but what we read, believe, and even who we trust.

The warm glow of agreement:

Psychologist Peter Wason first documented the phenomenon of confirmation bias in the 1960s.

He found that people, when testing a theory, don’t look for ways to disprove it. They look for evidence that supports it.

It’s not truth-seeking. It’s comfort-seeking.

Later experiments by Charles Lord and colleagues found something more troubling: when people encounter mixed evidence, they don’t change their minds; they dig in deeper.

The more contradictory the information, the stronger their original belief becomes.

An agreement feels good, a disagreement feels wrong, and our brains are wired to chase that feeling.

From phones to politics:

In everyday life, confirmation bias explains why Apple fans swear by Apple and dismiss anything Samsung.

It’s why we scroll through Amazon reviews, ignoring one-star rants while nodding along to the glowing ones.

It’s why diet wars such as Keto vs Vegan vs Paleo feel more like religions than health plans. Each side hunts for research that proves they were right all along.

And it’s why our media habits are so predictable.

Conservatives watch conservative news. Liberals watch liberal news. Algorithms learn our preferences and build comfortable digital echo chambers around us.

Netflix knows you like psychological thrillers, so it keeps feeding you more of them. Spotify knows you love indie pop, so that’s all you’ll hear.

The result? A perfectly personalised reality.

How brands exploit it:

Good marketers understand this bias instinctively. Great ones use it deliberately.

Amazon’s recommendation engine leans on confirmation bias: “You bought this, so you’ll like that.”

Spotify’s playlists confirm your taste.

Nike’s Colin Kaepernick campaign confirmed the values of its younger, progressive audience, sparking outrage elsewhere but loyalty where it mattered.

Even phrases like “Other busy parents love this product” work because they confirm identity: people like me know what’s best.

When comfort becomes a cage:

But the same instinct that keeps us loyal can also make us blind.

Confirmation bias fuels polarisation. It turns marketing campaigns into political statements. It creates filter bubbles where people rarely encounter alternative views.

It also feeds scams and misinformation. Fraudsters thrive because their victims often want to believe and tend to ignore evidence that contradicts their claims.

The balancing act:

For marketers, confirmation bias is both a tool and a trap. It helps validate customer choices, think post-purchase messages like “95% of owners recommend this product”.

But lean too hard into comfort, and you risk dullness or division.

The most innovative brands walk a tightrope, offering enough reassurance to make consumers feel seen and just enough novelty to pique their curiosity again.

Because people don’t see the world, they see their world, filtered, familiar, and reassuringly right.

Watch the full episode on YouTube, where I explore the topic in-depth.

Cheers!

Akanksha