Based on the text, what did Salganik and colleagues determine about c… | Verbal SAT Question

Sociologist Matthew Salganik and colleagues conducted an experimental study to examine how social influence affects cultural markets. The researchers created an artificial online music platform where over 14,000 participants could listen to, rate, and download 48 previously unknown songs. In the control condition, participants chose songs based solely on their own evaluations without seeing data on other users’ preferences. In the social influence conditions, participants could see real-time download counts reflecting the choices of earlier listeners. Salganik and his team observed that when download counts were visible, popular songs became dramatically more popular while unpopular songs languished, demonstrating that social influence amplifies inequality in market success and makes hit songs largely unpredictable based on intrinsic quality alone.

Based on the text, what did Salganik and colleagues determine about cultural markets where consumers can observe other consumers’ choices?

Consumer evaluations become more accurate indicators of a product’s objective artistic value.

Market inequality decreases as obscure works receive greater collective visibility.

Past consumer choices heavily bias subsequent consumer behavior, increasing the disparity between top-performing and low-performing items.

Consumers actively seek out less popular products to establish distinctive personal tastes.