Are many audiophiles only seeking approval of the next purchase?

The other side of what teo_audio says is the fact reading all this improves our thinking abilities to sift through all the chaff and find what is important, and what is 'real' vs drivel vs out and out propaganda. It may have been true thirty years ago plenty of folks would have accepted what was written as actual truth. Today, almost no one accepts anything written without plenty of critical inspection. Automatic actually.. It has become the norm.

Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup,
They slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mind,
Possessing and caressing me.
Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world,
Nothing's gonna change my world.
Nothing's gonna change my world,
Nothing's gonna change my world.

“You can’t kill kill.” - Charles Manson

Confirmation bias is a phenomenon wherein decision makers have been shown to actively seek out and assign more weight to evidence that confirms their hypothesis, and ignore or underweigh evidence that could disconfirm their hypothesis.

I buy with expert insight into my purchase don't need anybody's ok but mine.

Another way to say that...  folks tend to stick with what they like, instead of constantly doubting themselves. LOL  
In scientific studies it might be a problem. It real life it keeps you from going insane.