Ever wondered why we're drawn to sales, discounts, and bargains, often buying things we don't need? Unravel the intriguing science behind our bargain hunting foolishness, exploring the psychological and neurological factors that fuel this peculiar human behavior.
Anchoring is a type of cognitive bias where the mere presence of an initial number can have a disproportionate influence on subsequent decision making
In other words, the price subconsciously influences your expectations about what you would be willing to pay.
- It really works. Unlike many recent findings in psychology that fail to replicate, the anchoring effect is easy to demonstrate and repeat.
Court out
The effect is not limited to the lab, but shows up robustly in the real world. In the court room, the damages awarded are strongly influenced by anchors.
- No one is immune. Even when you are aware of cognitive biases, you can still be affected by them and anchoring is a particularly strong bias.
Checklist
Be aware of your own thought processes
- Do your homework
- Get as much unbiased information about a product as you can
- Set limits in advance
- If you can decide on price limits before going out, you are less likely to go beyond them and make a rash decision
