What is the Anchoring Bias?

The anchoring bias is our tendency to focus on or anchor our attention on the first piece of information that we stumble upon. This anchor information becomes the benchmark to judge any other information that we then come across. Cognitive biases are the errors in judgment that our minds make when making sense of the complex world around us.
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Skillcamper
Published on
October 13, 2023

The anchoring bias is our tendency to focus on or anchor our attention on the first piece of information that we stumble upon. This anchor information becomes the benchmark to judge any other information that we then come across. Cognitive biases are the errors in judgment that our minds make when making sense of the complex world around us.

If you look up a product such as a jacket or a T-shirt on your favorite fashion website, you will notice that the more expensive options appear first. Even though you have the choice to sort the products for other options, the first piece of information that you see becomes your anchor. You judge the later prices by this initial impression. Pricing and product placement are two ways businesses utilize natural bias towards what we see first. Anchoring Bias Can Influence How Much You Are Willing to Pay, usually, this bias very much affects what you pay while shopping, salary negotiations, the money you earn and so on. It is one of the biases which affects our decision-making abilities. what is a good decision-making process known here? https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/decision-making

Imagine that you are trying to negotiate a salary for a new job with the HR of the company. You may think it is not good to bring salary options, but research suggests if you are the first one to begin the process by putting a price on the table, might actually be the best way to go. Whoever makes that first offer has the edge because of the anchoring bias, and will essentially make that number the starting point for all further negotiations and will turn all talks in your favor.

Did you know that it only takes us 17 milliseconds to form a first impression? And, like it or not, the first impression is often the most lasting one. This is often why e-commerce websites choose to present the original/higher price first, with the reduced or discounted price right next to it. This placement plays into our anchoring bias. Similarly if asked what Skillcamper course you would do or go for can you decide without your anchoring bias. Test here. https://www.skillcamper.com/course-category/digital-marketing/

Found this interesting, know a little about another cognitive bias here https://www.skillcamper.com/what-is-the-ambiguity-bias.html/

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