Helps users quickly compare and prioritise choices
May anchor users to suboptimal or irrelevant baselines
Anchoring Bias involves the reliance on initial information when making decisions. In their 1974 study, Tversky and Kahneman explored how arbitrary numbers influence estimates. Participants were asked to guess the percentage of African countries in the UN after being shown a random number. The researchers found that estimates were biased toward the initial number, regardless of its relevance, demonstrating how first impressions disproportionately influence judgments.
Participants' estimates were consistently influenced by the initial anchor. This reveals that early information can shape subsequent decisions, affecting behaviours such as pricing perceptions or content evaluations.
1.
Present key information early to anchor decisions.
2.
Use strategic anchors for effective product comparisons.
3.
Test varied anchors to understand decision influence.
