Understanding the Anchoring Bias: How Our First Impressions Influence Our Judgments

Anchoring is a cognitive bias that refers to the tendency for our initial experiences or information to influence our perceptions of subsequent information. In other words, our first impression of something can "anchor" our subsequent judgments and make it more difficult to change our minds or consider alternative perspectives.

For example, if you are shown a high price for a product before being shown a lower price, you may perceive the lower price as more reasonable or attractive because it is compared to the higher anchor price. This is known as the anchoring effect.

Anchoring can be used in various contexts, such as negotiations, marketing, and decision-making. It is important to be aware of this bias and take steps to avoid it, such as considering multiple sources of information and evaluating each piece of information on its own merits, rather than comparing it to an initial anchor.