Anchor Effect: Theories And Factors

Athlete Frank Tankerton states that “you can only learn if you open yourself to different sources of information. ” And yet, can the anchoring effect be a cognitive bias that promotes just the opposite in our minds?

Are we completely free to make a decision based on the information available? The truth is that there are countless factors that influence us in decision-making, and one of them is this anchoring effect, which we are going to learn about here.

What is the anchor effect?

Have you ever felt that the first information you receive seems the most important, the clearest and most concise? The first impact you suffer from a certain news item, for example, will condition the way you see and understand the rest of the information. Obviously, this is something that can condition your subsequent decisions.

The anchoring effect is also known as the focalism effect. This cognitive bias is a psychological phenomenon that states that the first information we receive on a specific topic will be the one we take as the basis for memorizing, and will also be the one that influences subsequent decisions.

We can say that the first data that we obtain from an information source is the one that remains anchored in our memory. It does not mean that we do not memorize, understand or adapt the rest, but it is true that the first data will remain with much more force.

It is clear that during the decision-making phase, this anchoring effect will be of vital importance, since unconsciously, the first information we receive will be more important at the time of passing judgment. Furthermore, it is likely that the rest of the associations and memories are formed from the first information obtained (initial anchoring).

Origin of the anchoring effect

We are going to see what are the various hypotheses of this effect that influences how we develop our opinions and decisions. Let us also point out that this effect occurs in all areas of our life.

But first, we better put an example to make it perfectly clear. Imagine that you are going to buy an apartment. Obviously, you will compare and look at several. However, it will be the first one you see that serves as a point of reference for others, to negotiate, to haggle, to discuss, to ultimately decide. And maybe in your first starting point you had a different idea, but there is no doubt that, when you receive the first information, that point changes and all the rest of the subsequent information will be mounted around this first impact.

There are exceptions, of course. Like that the second apartment produces a much more noticeable impact on you or that later you discover that the first is totally out of what is offered on the market for that price.

Anchoring and adjustment

Generally, people tend to move away from the anchor to decide, but they do not make it. Its low effectiveness is denoted by the fact that the final decision is always close to the anchored information in one way or another.

Selective accessibility

When done in anchoring the information, the person evaluates an adequate response. If it is not adequate, it will make subsequent judgments. However, all of them will be based on the pinned information.

Change of actitud

Upon receiving the anchor, the person changes his attitude to adapt to the characteristics of this information. So future responses will always be related to the anchor. For example, it may be that from this anchor, what previously seemed cheap to us begins to seem expensive, or the other way around. Let’s think about what we can get to pay today for a phone, would we not have said years ago that it is crazy?

Influencing factors

Obviously, there are factors that help modulate the effect of the anchor, both in shape and intensity:

• Mood : it has a favorable or negative influence when it comes to being carried away by the effect of the anchor. Depressed people, for example, tend to be more precise at adapting information, although other studies claim that their tendency is more passive.
• Experience : a person with high knowledge and training is less susceptible to this phenomenon. However, no one is free from its effect.

• Personality : according to studies, in more extroverted people this effect has less influence than in introverts, for example.
• Cognitive ability : the higher it is, the lower the effect, although no one is free and the studies on this are controversial.

We have already learned a little better about the anchoring effect. Do you think you have a propensity for it? It seems that no one is free from it, although, once we know the phenomenon, it is in our power, at least in part, to decide to what extent it influences us.