Want a 'like'? Buy it

"Liking" on the web has turned into an industry, thanks to our tendency to rely on the aggregated opinions of others for our decisions.

Have you recently clicked "Like" on Facebook? If you have, the chances are you followed others, and not your own judgement.You are not alone. According to a study by researchers from Hebrew University in Jerusalem and New York University, prior ratings significantly influence our behaviour on the web.

Unsurprisingly, positive and negative social influences produce different effects. The researchers found that a "thumbs-up" generated 32 per cent more approvals than a "thumbs-down".

This clearly shows the power of hype. But it also highlights a more worrying tendency in all of us to rely on the aggregated opinions of others for our decisions, a trend that marketers use to their advantage to sell their products.

No wonder "liking" has turned into an industry. A classic example is a Dhaka-based firm, where workers are reportedly paid US$120 (Dh440) a year to generate fake "likes" on Facebook pages.

The secret of success is sincerity, they say: once you can fake that you've got it made. But time seems to be changing our opinions. In the digital age, success is likely to follow if only you can fake popularity.