Why are informal social controls so powerful in affecting people's behavior?

This is delicate, but I'll try. The physical world, the sensory world, is a reflection of inner reality. Not knowing this, one comes to think the reflection is real. People can play with the reflection, and those perceiving the new reflection alter their behavior to match, or conform, with the reflection. This happens constantly, every time an ad tells you their product is the best, fastest, most pure, tastiest, A number one film in America, ad nauseum. The solution is meditative non-attachment. I don't have space to counsel you further.