At the time of decision making, involving potentially biased number can directly affect the decision A radically irrelevant number which does not affect decision making

1. Can Random Numbers
affect our
Decision Making?
Incidental Environmental Anchor
By Clayton R Critcher and Thomas Gilovich
Cornell University, New York,USA
Journal of Behavioral Decision Making – 2008
Recreatedby Ajay Shibu

2. Incidental Environmental
Anchor Effect – Vague?
￮ At the time of decision making, involving
potentially biased number can directly affect
the decision
￮ A radically irrelevant number which does
not affect decision making
2
Research took place with 3 studies conducted to analyse the impact of new anchoring
effect.
Purpose

3. Study
Participants saw one of two
possible photos, with Stan
Fischer wearing either jersey
number 54 or jersey number
94. Participants were then
asked ‘‘how likely do you think
it is that Stan Fischer will
register a sack in the
conference playoff game?’’
Jersey Number Affects
Decision Making
Result
Probability of Stan Fischer
sacking the quarterback
wearing jersey #94 (M=61.6%,
SD=22.1%) in his next game
was higher than wearing
jersey #54
(M=55.6%,SD=24.9%)
3
Two hundred sixty-five undergraduates at Cornell University completed the study as part of
a session for which they received extra course credit. Three participants, one in the #54
condition and two in the #94 condition, gave incomplete responses and thus were
excluded from the analyses reported below.
Study 1

4. Study
Participants saw a picture of a
Sony Ericsson smartphone
with either the fictitious model
number ‘‘P17’’ or ‘‘P97’’
superimposed on the phone’s
display
Q. Which Sony Ericson model
would outperform the other?
Model Number Affects
Decision Making
Result
Participants estimated that P97s
(M=58.1%, SD=19.6%) will be
sold more than P17s (M=51.9%,
SD=21.7%).
4
Two hundred seven Cornell University undergraduates participated in exchange for either
a piece of candy or as part of an experimental session for which they received extra credit
in their psychology or human development classes. The data from six participants, three in
the P17 condition and three in the P97 condition, were excluded because their responses
fell outside of the allowable range of 0–100.
Study 2

5. Study
Participants received same
picture of a moderately up-
scale restaurant. The
restaurant was either identified
as Studio 17 or Studio 97
Q. how much they would be
willing to spend on their own
meals if they were to eat at
this restaurant?
Restaurant Number
Affects Spending Decision
Result
Participants were willing to pay
much higher at Studio 97
(M=$32.84) than at Studio 17
(M=$24.58)
5One hundred ninety-four Cornell University undergraduates completed the study as part of
an experimental session for which they received extra course credit.
Study 3
Studio 97

6. Incidental Environmental
Anchor Effect – Robust
Decision Making
Presence of a
number in any form,
irrelevant to any
form of decision
making can in-fact
have direct impact in
decision making
Numbers
Numbers are
involved in day to
day activity and
modern
environmentalist
make use of it to
influence consumer
decisions
Robust
Incidental
Environmental
Anchor is more
common than basic
anchoring in existing
literature.
6
Main Findings

7. Street Number in
Real Estate
￮ To attract potential buyers into paying higher value for the
property, realty developers can try to rebrand the street to
a higher number accompanied by a strong/heavy street
name. For e.g. the image on right
￮ The number or the name would not have a diverse effect,
but it has been researched upon that such a practice can
influence the prospect to believe the locality to be posh
and exclusive
￮ Numbers can influence potential buyers into making big
decisions like property purchases
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Potential Usage of Anchoring Effect

8. Product Branding
￮ Involving numbers in products to differentiate between two
products of same segment can impact the sales of the
product
￮ Showcasing of calorie content (numbers) in a soda/pop
can directly affect the sales of the same
￮ Numbers can influence potential buyers into making
purchases which can affect their health
8
Potential Usage of Anchoring Effect

9. Contestant ID
￮ Randomizing a system generated contestant ID plays a
big part in influencing the contestants
￮ It plays a psychological part in the contestants
performance with many influenced by a higher or more
valued number.
￮ It can also play a major part in deciding the line-up for
audition
9
Potential Usage of Anchoring Effect

10. Thank
you
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