Anchoring Effect: Difference between revisions
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A famous and very common heuristic is called the ‘''Anchoring effect''’. This suggests that the first piece of information we get is weighed much more heavily in our decision making process than subsequent pieces of information – regardless of their actual relative importance. You might know this as | '''A famous and very common heuristic is called the ‘''Anchoring effect''’. This suggests that the first piece of information we get is weighed much more heavily in our decision making process than subsequent pieces of information – regardless of their actual relative importance.''' You might know this as ‘''first impressions''’. | ||
A simple example is imagine you're shopping for a shirt, and you see one originally priced at $100, but it's on sale for $50. You might think it's a great deal because you're comparing the sale price to the original price. This is the anchoring effect. You're "anchored" to that first number you saw ($100) and use it as a reference point to judge the value of the sale price. Even if the shirt is not worth $50, you might still buy it because it seems like a big discount from the original price. This is a | ==== Example 1 ==== | ||
A simple example is imagine you're shopping for a shirt, and you see one originally priced at $100, but it's on sale for $50. You might think it's a great deal because you're comparing the sale price to the original price. This is the anchoring effect. You're "anchored" to that first number you saw ($100) and use it as a reference point to judge the value of the sale price. Even if the shirt is not worth $50, you might still buy it because it seems like a big discount from the original price. | |||
==== Example 2 ==== | |||
Participants were asked: | |||
''"Was Mahatma Gandhi older or younger than 9 years old when he died?"'' | |||
Since 9 years is an obviously low number, people knew he was older, but this small number '''anchored''' their thinking. | |||
Another group was asked: | |||
''"Was Mahatma Gandhi older or younger than 140 years old when he died?"'' | |||
Since 140 is an obviously high number, it pushed their guesses higher. | |||
===== '''The Results:''' ===== | |||
* The first group, anchored to '''9 years''', gave lower estimates. | |||
* The second group, anchored to '''140 years''', gave higher estimates. | |||
Even though people knew the anchor values were unrealistic, they still subconsciously influenced their answers. This shows how the anchoring effect distorts judgment, even when the anchor is irrelevant or absurd. | |||
=== Use in Psychological Manipulation === | |||
The anchoring effect is often taken advantage of as a [[Dark Patterns|dark pattern]] as [[The Decoy Effect|the decoy effect]] by marketing agents. | |||
Latest revision as of 21:26, 20 March 2025
A famous and very common heuristic is called the ‘Anchoring effect’. This suggests that the first piece of information we get is weighed much more heavily in our decision making process than subsequent pieces of information – regardless of their actual relative importance. You might know this as ‘first impressions’.
Example 1
A simple example is imagine you're shopping for a shirt, and you see one originally priced at $100, but it's on sale for $50. You might think it's a great deal because you're comparing the sale price to the original price. This is the anchoring effect. You're "anchored" to that first number you saw ($100) and use it as a reference point to judge the value of the sale price. Even if the shirt is not worth $50, you might still buy it because it seems like a big discount from the original price.
Example 2
Participants were asked:
"Was Mahatma Gandhi older or younger than 9 years old when he died?"
Since 9 years is an obviously low number, people knew he was older, but this small number anchored their thinking.
Another group was asked:
"Was Mahatma Gandhi older or younger than 140 years old when he died?"
Since 140 is an obviously high number, it pushed their guesses higher.
The Results:
- The first group, anchored to 9 years, gave lower estimates.
- The second group, anchored to 140 years, gave higher estimates.
Even though people knew the anchor values were unrealistic, they still subconsciously influenced their answers. This shows how the anchoring effect distorts judgment, even when the anchor is irrelevant or absurd.
Use in Psychological Manipulation
The anchoring effect is often taken advantage of as a dark pattern as the decoy effect by marketing agents.