Availability Cascades

What is an availability cascade?

An availability cascade is a proposed social process in which a widely discussed concern becomes more credible or important to people partly because others increasingly discuss and endorse it.

How it works

Kuran and Sunstein’s 1999 article combines informational influence—treating others’ beliefs as evidence—with reputational influence—publicly aligning with others to gain acceptance or avoid disapproval.

The authors describe people or organizations that promote such processes as availability entrepreneurs. Their campaigns can help or harm; promoting a concern is not automatically deception.

Why Availability Cascades Matter

A concern can gain public support partly because it already appears to have public support. The framework asks how that process shapes collective attention and risk regulation.

Popularity alone settles neither the truth of the concern nor whether a cascade occurred. To make the case, trace how beliefs and public statements changed over time and what role the campaign played. A widely discussed concern may also be widely discussed for good reasons.