We can attach ourselves to all kinds of values or information, whether we invented them ourselves or gave us 4, but obviously for different reasons. We tend to use anchors or landmarks for decisions and assessments, and sometimes they lead us astray. While we may have a sufficient level of detail to make an informed decision, the anchor can have a huge impact on our decision. This is especially true when deciding what to pay for things, as we are overly influenced by the set price. [Sources: 4, 6, 12]
One way to avoid attachment bias, whether emotional or when making a decision, is to try to start with the attachment state. Once the anchor is established, other judgments are made by moving away from that anchor, and bias arises in interpreting other information around the anchor. As a result, immediate purchasing decisions and many other subsequent decisions are influenced by the original anchor5. Retailers set prices knowing what consumers think about prices in relation to (box: Are arbitrary numbers strong anchors?). [Sources: 1, 5, 12]
For example, a used car dealer might show you the most expensive model before setting a high base for the corresponding used car price. Displaying an original price with a discounted price means that the original price can anchor users’ perception of that value for the items. Here’s an example from the Columbia website where the original price has been canceled, which leads users to view the discount as a bargain. [Sources: 0, 3, 10]
A proposition becomes more compelling if social proof is used as a secondary anchor. With a high link price, discounts seem to be beneficial. A starting price of $ 20,000 for an anchor will reduce the willingness to pay. Knowing this, the seller may deliberately set the peg too high (for example, in the price of the car) so that any future price reduction looks like a discount. [Sources: 3, 4, 11]
In addition to the original research by Tversky and Kahneman, many other studies have shown that pegging can have a significant impact on the appraised value of a property. According to this theory, when we are first presented with binding information, the first thing we do is mentally check to see if it is a plausible value for whatever target or situation we are considering. However, since the activated information lives in our mental model for a specific concept, the anchor bias should be stronger when the triggered information is applicable to the task at hand. Anchor bias means people rely too heavily on this early information, even if they learn more about it later. [Sources: 6, 12, 13]
The problem is that this explanation is less satisfying when the anchor is so obviously useless, as when you tell people that Gandhi was over nine years old when he died. [Sources: 12]
A peg shift can cause a financial market participant, such as a financial analyst or investor, to make the wrong financial decision, such as buying an undervalued investment or selling an overvalued investment. While peg bias is certainly annoying when you’re trying to guess, it can have even more serious implications for your financial decisions. So the next time you try to make an important decision, think a little about the possible impact of anchor bias on your choice. Once you realize how powerful strategic anchors can have in our judgment, you can use that knowledge to your advantage. [Sources: 2, 9, 10]
For example, it can be helpful to study the average sales price for a used car model you are interested in and use that as an anchor to determine whether or not to close the deal. For example, when negotiating a car, the buyer can drop the anchor by bidding first. So instead of bargaining and letting the other party drop the anchor and make the first offer, you too can beat them. By taking your time with the decision-making process, you can gather more information and weaken the anchoring effect. [Sources: 1, 4, 10]
But first, you need to create anchors that will resonate positively with your customers. No one likes to make difficult choices or constantly challenge themselves, so the simplicity and familiarity of anchoring makes this process more engaging and influential than people might think. Good anchors help users form their expectations of what is normal or exceptional, lower the cognitive cost of making decisions, and can even increase the perceived value of a product. The weakness of this bias lies in imprecise anchors that are deliberately used by others to shape public opinion, influence product decisions, and manage behavior. [Sources: 0, 1, 3, 11]
Anchoring effect is a type of cognitive bias because people tend to rely on their first information and may decide too quickly and not shop at better prices or overlook other information, such as product quality. Anchoring effect is a cognitive bias that describes a common human tendency to rely too much on the first piece of information (“anchoring”) when making decisions. [Sources: 1, 5]
In the decision-making process, anchoring occurs when people use initial information to make subsequent judgments. In the decision-making process, anchoring occurs when people use initial information to make subsequent judgments. The anchoring effect is a cognitive bias in which a specific reference point or anchor point affects a person’s decision. Anchoring is a heuristic found in behavioral finance. It describes the subconscious use of irrelevant information, such as the purchase price of a stock, as a fixed reference point (or again) to make subsequent decisions on the stock. [Sources: 5, 7, 9, 13]
Anchoring is a cognitive bias in which the use of arbitrary criteria, such as purchase price or price, is disproportionately weighted in the decision-making process. Anchor offset is an important concept in behavioral finance. Behavioral finance. Behavioral finance is the study of the influence of psychology on the behavior of investors or financial professionals. Careful research and evaluation of the factors influencing the markets or the price of securities is necessary to eliminate bias in decision-making in the investment process. [Sources: 9, 14]
Anchor bias occurs when people rely too much on information that already exists or the first information they find when making decisions. Anchoring most often occurs when consumers lack strong evidence or knowledge. Anchoring is especially popular when people are dealing with new concepts. Anchoring is the fact that people tend to hold on to the first (or else) information they come across and allow their subsequent actions, such as evaluations, arguments, and conclusions, to be made about it. [Sources: 3, 8, 14]
A person’s tendency to rely heavily on the first information they receive when making decisions is called the anchoring effect. 2 Anchoring effect is a cognitive bias: a systematic thinking error that affects people’s judgment and decision-making. Anchoring bias, anchoring effect, or anchoring heuristic is a cognitive psychology finding that people overestimate the first information they receive. [Sources: 1, 12]
#### Sources #####
[0]: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/anchoring-principle/
[1]: https://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/page1-econ/2021/04/01/the-anchoring-effect
[2]: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-anchoring-bias-2795029
[3]: https://www.abtasty.com/blog/anchoring-bias-decision-making/
[4]: https://boycewire.com/anchoring-bias-definition-and-examples/
[5]: https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/negotiation-skills-daily/the-drawbacks-of-goals/
[6]: https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/anchoring-bias/
[7]: https://coglode.com/research/anchoring-bias
[8]: https://www.sagu.edu/thoughthub/the-affects-of-anchoring-bias-on-human-behavior
[9]: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/anchoring.asp
[10]: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/stretching-theory/201902/outsmart-the-anchoring-bias-in-three-simple-steps
[11]: https://percipiocompany.com/anchoring-bias/
[12]: https://www.spring.org.uk/2021/07/anchoring-bias.php
[13]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoring_(cognitive_bias)
[14]: https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/trading-investing/anchoring-bias/