What is an anchor effect and how can you use it
One interesting article “Anchoring effect” prompted me to write this note. However, this is not a translation at all, since the text contains a lot of superfluous information and research in the spirit of “British scientists have proved ...” This is rather a creative interpretation.
The article describes one very important psychological effect - the anchor effect or the binding effect .
When they say to you, “Just do not think about the pink monkey” - you start thinking about it. But this is nothing compared to the subconscious shift in the perception of numerical indicators.
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In order to evaluate something, we need a starting point, a kind of anchor - something like a "pink monkey".
For example, if you ask - how many people make up the population of Venezuela, what would you say? Get lost and think. And if you ask the question: "The population of Venezuela is more or less than 65 million?" . The question acquires a different color, and your brain subconsciously begins to rely on the mentioned figure, even if it is taken "from the ceiling." What answer did you give in the first and second case? In the second case, the named number will be much larger than in response to the first version of the question.
Meanwhile, only 28 million people live in Venezuela.
Repeated studies have shown that our brain always clings to such anchors, hints on which we are given circumstances, and absolutely any.
In the book “Making Decisions in Uncertainty: Rules and Prejudices” (Judgment Under Uncertainty Heuristics and Biases) Kahneman, Tversky and Slovik write:
“In many cases, people evaluate something based on the initial value, which is then adjusted to the final answer. The initial value, or point of reference, may be suggested in the formulation of the problem, or may be the result of its own calculations. And in fact, and in another case, these calculations are usually unfounded ... that is, different points of reference lead to different estimates, which tend to the original values "
Their book also describes the following experiment.
Students were asked to recall the last three digits of their telephone number and then asked when Attila destroyed Rome (the correct answer is 411 AD). At the same time, students with larger last figures were consistently called a later date than students with smaller ones.
Now think about how this rule is constantly applied in our lives. For example, you get on sale - not necessarily things, but in any Apple Store, etc. You see that before a thing cost $ 100, and now it is sold for $ 49.99. It does not matter that such a price is too high for it - the number 100 in your brain starts to play and, consequently, a discount of more than 50%! And the more the initial cost of the product was, the higher the value this product acquires in your eyes and the more effective the sale! Goods are bought not for their final cost, but for a discount, which was made relative to its full price.
Vendors also know another technique based on an anchor effect: having very expensive items close to cheaper ones, but relatively expensive for their product category. The anchor is a very high price, which by its value levels the overestimated cost of the second product, and you are ready to take "this 99-flash drive for the bucket" lying next to the new MacBook Air
Experiments have shown that even knowing about this binding effect, people still subconsciously fall under its action. Then why not use it for your own purposes?
For example, in 1975 such an experiment was conducted.
Students were offered two hours a week , for two years , to work as volunteers - tutors in the camp. All refused. Then the researchers suggested that these students go to camp once for two hours. Half of the students agreed.
While in the group where they had NOT previously offered to work for two years, only 17% agreed to a two-hour trip.
Now you are convinced that you should always ask for more ?
In the most general form, in order to use the anchoring effect for your own purposes, you simply need to set anchor-anchors yourself, to which the people around you will orient themselves.
For example, the phrase “This work will cost you 10 thousand rubles, but I can do it for 5 thousand” will definitely have a result. Or "Let's buy four new laptops in our department! Or one printer to me . ” And also this: “Previously, our program loaded 8 minutes, and now - only 5!”
Think not only about how you will now negotiate or how you will ask something from the authorities. Think about your everyday behavior.
You go to the same cafes, shops, buy the same food, the same brands.
On the one hand, all this is time tested, but doesn't it seem that you are limiting yourself? Where are the unsupported anchors? Perhaps put by someone or something?
A good example here is the “price corridors” for products that exist in our mind, that is, a kind of price “plug” for which we consider it acceptable to buy these goods. If it is cheaper, then it is suspicious, if it is more expensive, then it is simply not for our wallet. Price corridors are also the result of the peg effect, so Prada bags for $ 1000 are the norm for us (although its real cost is comparable to the prices of low-cost brands), since they are always sold at such inflated prices, and we see nothing strange in that. .
Our valuation is tied to the goods, that is, in fact, based on the price already imposed on us. Try to evaluate the product "from scratch", according to your own impressions - and you will be extremely surprised!
So I advise at leisure to think carefully and carry out a "reassessment of values" - where it is required.
The article describes one very important psychological effect - the anchor effect or the binding effect .
What's the secret?
When they say to you, “Just do not think about the pink monkey” - you start thinking about it. But this is nothing compared to the subconscious shift in the perception of numerical indicators.
')
In order to evaluate something, we need a starting point, a kind of anchor - something like a "pink monkey".
For example, if you ask - how many people make up the population of Venezuela, what would you say? Get lost and think. And if you ask the question: "The population of Venezuela is more or less than 65 million?" . The question acquires a different color, and your brain subconsciously begins to rely on the mentioned figure, even if it is taken "from the ceiling." What answer did you give in the first and second case? In the second case, the named number will be much larger than in response to the first version of the question.
Meanwhile, only 28 million people live in Venezuela.
Repeated studies have shown that our brain always clings to such anchors, hints on which we are given circumstances, and absolutely any.
In the book “Making Decisions in Uncertainty: Rules and Prejudices” (Judgment Under Uncertainty Heuristics and Biases) Kahneman, Tversky and Slovik write:
“In many cases, people evaluate something based on the initial value, which is then adjusted to the final answer. The initial value, or point of reference, may be suggested in the formulation of the problem, or may be the result of its own calculations. And in fact, and in another case, these calculations are usually unfounded ... that is, different points of reference lead to different estimates, which tend to the original values "
Their book also describes the following experiment.
Students were asked to recall the last three digits of their telephone number and then asked when Attila destroyed Rome (the correct answer is 411 AD). At the same time, students with larger last figures were consistently called a later date than students with smaller ones.
Simple tricks
Now think about how this rule is constantly applied in our lives. For example, you get on sale - not necessarily things, but in any Apple Store, etc. You see that before a thing cost $ 100, and now it is sold for $ 49.99. It does not matter that such a price is too high for it - the number 100 in your brain starts to play and, consequently, a discount of more than 50%! And the more the initial cost of the product was, the higher the value this product acquires in your eyes and the more effective the sale! Goods are bought not for their final cost, but for a discount, which was made relative to its full price.
Vendors also know another technique based on an anchor effect: having very expensive items close to cheaper ones, but relatively expensive for their product category. The anchor is a very high price, which by its value levels the overestimated cost of the second product, and you are ready to take "this 99-flash drive for the bucket" lying next to the new MacBook Air
Ask for more!
Experiments have shown that even knowing about this binding effect, people still subconsciously fall under its action. Then why not use it for your own purposes?
For example, in 1975 such an experiment was conducted.
Students were offered two hours a week , for two years , to work as volunteers - tutors in the camp. All refused. Then the researchers suggested that these students go to camp once for two hours. Half of the students agreed.
While in the group where they had NOT previously offered to work for two years, only 17% agreed to a two-hour trip.
Now you are convinced that you should always ask for more ?
In the most general form, in order to use the anchoring effect for your own purposes, you simply need to set anchor-anchors yourself, to which the people around you will orient themselves.
For example, the phrase “This work will cost you 10 thousand rubles, but I can do it for 5 thousand” will definitely have a result. Or "Let's buy four new laptops in our department! Or one printer to me . ” And also this: “Previously, our program loaded 8 minutes, and now - only 5!”
Where is your anchor?
Think not only about how you will now negotiate or how you will ask something from the authorities. Think about your everyday behavior.
You go to the same cafes, shops, buy the same food, the same brands.
On the one hand, all this is time tested, but doesn't it seem that you are limiting yourself? Where are the unsupported anchors? Perhaps put by someone or something?
A good example here is the “price corridors” for products that exist in our mind, that is, a kind of price “plug” for which we consider it acceptable to buy these goods. If it is cheaper, then it is suspicious, if it is more expensive, then it is simply not for our wallet. Price corridors are also the result of the peg effect, so Prada bags for $ 1000 are the norm for us (although its real cost is comparable to the prices of low-cost brands), since they are always sold at such inflated prices, and we see nothing strange in that. .
Our valuation is tied to the goods, that is, in fact, based on the price already imposed on us. Try to evaluate the product "from scratch", according to your own impressions - and you will be extremely surprised!
So I advise at leisure to think carefully and carry out a "reassessment of values" - where it is required.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/103413/
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