Comments on: Irrational Decisions – Anchoring and Arbitrary Coherence http://www.ratracetrap.com/the-rat-race-trap/irrational-decisions-anchoring-and-arbitrary-coherence.html Tools to improve your mind and escape the trap Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:32:01 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Timothy Ford http://www.ratracetrap.com/the-rat-race-trap/irrational-decisions-anchoring-and-arbitrary-coherence.html/comment-page-1#comment-16970 Timothy Ford Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:23:57 +0000 http://www.ratracetrap.com/?p=1857#comment-16970 Oh, and I don't recall making any sales to people who would not either write down or speak the anchor price, or agree that the anchor price was the market price. Pulling out the deluxe model brochure never worked for me, but I think that part of the problem was that the company had us hold it in reserve. As a youngster I was just doing the spiel as trained without much understanding. (Another example, both companies taught us how to mirror body language without explaining why other than saying it works.) I think that if I had to be a salesman today I'd be establishing that deluxe model anchor price early in the spiel. Oh, and I don’t recall making any sales to people who would not either write down or speak the anchor price, or agree that the anchor price was the market price. Pulling out the deluxe model brochure never worked for me, but I think that part of the problem was that the company had us hold it in reserve. As a youngster I was just doing the spiel as trained without much understanding. (Another example, both companies taught us how to mirror body language without explaining why other than saying it works.) I think that if I had to be a salesman today I’d be establishing that deluxe model anchor price early in the spiel.

]]> By: Timothy Ford http://www.ratracetrap.com/the-rat-race-trap/irrational-decisions-anchoring-and-arbitrary-coherence.html/comment-page-1#comment-16968 Timothy Ford Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:13:40 +0000 http://www.ratracetrap.com/?p=1857#comment-16968 I came to this post and comments late but I detect that no one so far has actually been a saleseman. As a student in the 1970s I sold knives and vacuum cleaners door-to-door. Each company explicitly trained us to set an anchor price. The goal was to get the customer to write down and speak the anchor price. I managed to get about 10 percent of the people to do that. If the customer hesitated, the salesman was to ask the customer to agree that the anchor price was reasonable or represented the expected market price. About 20 percent would do that. Either I was not a very persuasive salesman, or the majority of people I encountered were suspicious of door-to-door salesmen, so most of the time I'd end up speaking and repeating the anchor price myself, as trained. The vacuum cleaner company also had an ultra-expensive model. We did not even tote this one around but had brochures. We were trained to pull out the brochure as a way to overcome hesitation at a certain point in the spiel. Our trainers told us very few customers would buy the top model, but that just showing it as an option would nudge people toward buying the mid-line model. I expect that the salesman culture simply figured all this out over years of trial and error. I came to this post and comments late but I detect that no one so far has actually been a saleseman. As a student in the 1970s I sold knives and vacuum cleaners door-to-door. Each company explicitly trained us to set an anchor price. The goal was to get the customer to write down and speak the anchor price. I managed to get about 10 percent of the people to do that. If the customer hesitated, the salesman was to ask the customer to agree that the anchor price was reasonable or represented the expected market price. About 20 percent would do that. Either I was not a very persuasive salesman, or the majority of people I encountered were suspicious of door-to-door salesmen, so most of the time I’d end up speaking and repeating the anchor price myself, as trained. The vacuum cleaner company also had an ultra-expensive model. We did not even tote this one around but had brochures. We were trained to pull out the brochure as a way to overcome hesitation at a certain point in the spiel. Our trainers told us very few customers would buy the top model, but that just showing it as an option would nudge people toward buying the mid-line model. I expect that the salesman culture simply figured all this out over years of trial and error.

]]> By: Lee Creech http://www.ratracetrap.com/the-rat-race-trap/irrational-decisions-anchoring-and-arbitrary-coherence.html/comment-page-1#comment-11342 Lee Creech Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:08:08 +0000 http://www.ratracetrap.com/?p=1857#comment-11342 It's not usually unconscious at all. Many product lines are "anchored" at the high end by a model that's not expected to sell many units -- the real purpose is to make what would otherwise be the most expensive one seem medium-priced by comparison. This is a routine marketing technique to move people up the price range. It’s not usually unconscious at all. Many product lines are “anchored” at the high end by a model that’s not expected to sell many units — the real purpose is to make what would otherwise be the most expensive one seem medium-priced by comparison. This is a routine marketing technique to move people up the price range.

]]> By: Robin Easton http://www.ratracetrap.com/the-rat-race-trap/irrational-decisions-anchoring-and-arbitrary-coherence.html/comment-page-1#comment-11325 Robin Easton Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:10:56 +0000 http://www.ratracetrap.com/?p=1857#comment-11325 Hi Dear Stephen, I left a comment here when this post first went up. I think I might have been the first to comment, but it's not showing here. That is so weird. Bummer :( Although you've moved on to another post, I'd like to share again what I tried to share the other day. I found this article interesting because it made me think about when I was younger and went into the rainforest FULL of planted anchors, and I didn't even know I had them. I wasn't that conscious at the time. BUT with time living extremely wild, having to be aware of many creatures who could potentially eat, kill, or make me severely ill, and eventually shedding my clothes and going naked, and wandering in torrential rain, eating the most spartan diet, being totally cut off from everything and everyone I'd ever known, going through many high adventures and at times survival situations...my whole life changed. By that I mean, I was stripped of all anchors, social conditioning, pre-programmed reactions, beliefs, and so forth. At one point I started to realize that I was turning "wild". I was returning to my true nature. To be stripped like that is an unforgettable experience. In our culture we have in so many ways (maybe almost all ways) lost our keen animal instincts and full on awareness. We've fallen asleep at the wheel and more often than not don't really know why we do much of what we do, or even awaken to the possibility that there may be other extremely different ways of thinking, feeling, choosing, experiencing, living etc. Since returning to society or my culture many years ago, I am constantly aware of the numbing affects and effects of this culture. I have often felt like everything around me is one giant sleeping pill: TV, grocery stores (junk food), ads yelling at me everywhere I look, computers, stores that greedily scream "buy buy buy", even porn, schools, religions, houses, roads, standard western medicine (which can rob people of the power to heal themselves and be responsible for their life-style choices), and on and on it goes. To where the entire social structure is an anchor and most think of it as simply "Life". ..."I mean, what else is there?" -- type of thinking. When unbeknown to us there are whole worlds out there, ways of being and thinking and living and perceiving Life. Who knows? Even the reality of dying at a certain age....or the concept of Death itself may be an anchor. But that is a topic of another day. I've actually started a post about that. I may include it in my Perspectives on Death series. Not sure. I know this is long and I'm wish it had gone in the other day. This time I will copy it in case it doesn't go through. This is a very deep and insightful post. One we all really need to take a closer look at and think seriously about, because there is a lot to be learned from it if we really let it sink in. Thank you my good friend. Hugs, Robin Hi Dear Stephen, I left a comment here when this post first went up. I think I might have been the first to comment, but it’s not showing here. That is so weird. Bummer :( Although you’ve moved on to another post, I’d like to share again what I tried to share the other day.

I found this article interesting because it made me think about when I was younger and went into the rainforest FULL of planted anchors, and I didn’t even know I had them. I wasn’t that conscious at the time. BUT with time living extremely wild, having to be aware of many creatures who could potentially eat, kill, or make me severely ill, and eventually shedding my clothes and going naked, and wandering in torrential rain, eating the most spartan diet, being totally cut off from everything and everyone I’d ever known, going through many high adventures and at times survival situations…my whole life changed. By that I mean, I was stripped of all anchors, social conditioning, pre-programmed reactions, beliefs, and so forth. At one point I started to realize that I was turning “wild”. I was returning to my true nature. To be stripped like that is an unforgettable experience.

In our culture we have in so many ways (maybe almost all ways) lost our keen animal instincts and full on awareness. We’ve fallen asleep at the wheel and more often than not don’t really know why we do much of what we do, or even awaken to the possibility that there may be other extremely different ways of thinking, feeling, choosing, experiencing, living etc.

Since returning to society or my culture many years ago, I am constantly aware of the numbing affects and effects of this culture. I have often felt like everything around me is one giant sleeping pill: TV, grocery stores (junk food), ads yelling at me everywhere I look, computers, stores that greedily scream “buy buy buy”, even porn, schools, religions, houses, roads, standard western medicine (which can rob people of the power to heal themselves and be responsible for their life-style choices), and on and on it goes. To where the entire social structure is an anchor and most think of it as simply “Life”. …”I mean, what else is there?” — type of thinking. When unbeknown to us there are whole worlds out there, ways of being and thinking and living and perceiving Life. Who knows? Even the reality of dying at a certain age….or the concept of Death itself may be an anchor. But that is a topic of another day. I’ve actually started a post about that. I may include it in my Perspectives on Death series. Not sure.

I know this is long and I’m wish it had gone in the other day. This time I will copy it in case it doesn’t go through. This is a very deep and insightful post. One we all really need to take a closer look at and think seriously about, because there is a lot to be learned from it if we really let it sink in. Thank you my good friend. Hugs, Robin

]]> By: Jimimiminer http://www.ratracetrap.com/the-rat-race-trap/irrational-decisions-anchoring-and-arbitrary-coherence.html/comment-page-1#comment-11222 Jimimiminer Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:38:21 +0000 http://www.ratracetrap.com/?p=1857#comment-11222 This is supported by the late night ads: You may expect to pay $200 or more for this product, but we're offering it for only $39.99 !!!! This is supported by the late night ads:

You may expect to pay $200 or more for this product, but we’re offering
it for only $39.99 !!!!

]]> By: Tim Brownson http://www.ratracetrap.com/the-rat-race-trap/irrational-decisions-anchoring-and-arbitrary-coherence.html/comment-page-1#comment-11187 Tim Brownson Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:59:06 +0000 http://www.ratracetrap.com/?p=1857#comment-11187 Stephen have you read either Sway or Nudge? Similar to Predictably Irrational, maybe not quite as good (Nudge does get a bit too political for my liking) and covers some of the same research, but well worth checking out. Stephen have you read either Sway or Nudge?

Similar to Predictably Irrational, maybe not quite as good (Nudge does get a bit too political for my liking) and covers some of the same research, but well worth checking out.

]]> By: Is America Dead? « Out Of My Mind http://www.ratracetrap.com/the-rat-race-trap/irrational-decisions-anchoring-and-arbitrary-coherence.html/comment-page-1#comment-11137 Is America Dead? « Out Of My Mind Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:51:56 +0000 http://www.ratracetrap.com/?p=1857#comment-11137 [...] this how we get and stay [...] [...] this how we get and stay [...]

]]> By: Stephen Mills http://www.ratracetrap.com/the-rat-race-trap/irrational-decisions-anchoring-and-arbitrary-coherence.html/comment-page-1#comment-11123 Stephen Mills Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:06:06 +0000 http://www.ratracetrap.com/?p=1857#comment-11123 Hello Worsley. That's a great idea you present there in your first sentence. Thanks for commenting. Hello Worsley. That’s a great idea you present there in your first sentence. Thanks for commenting.

]]> By: Stephen Mills http://www.ratracetrap.com/the-rat-race-trap/irrational-decisions-anchoring-and-arbitrary-coherence.html/comment-page-1#comment-11122 Stephen Mills Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:05:01 +0000 http://www.ratracetrap.com/?p=1857#comment-11122 Hi Ms_B! Glad you made the trip over from slashdot. I think taking an extreme bargaining position will help you hold the line. On the other hand it may prevent you from offering enough if you really want the item. Interesting. Hi Ms_B! Glad you made the trip over from slashdot. I think taking an extreme bargaining position will help you hold the line. On the other hand it may prevent you from offering enough if you really want the item. Interesting.

]]> By: Stephen Mills http://www.ratracetrap.com/the-rat-race-trap/irrational-decisions-anchoring-and-arbitrary-coherence.html/comment-page-1#comment-11121 Stephen Mills Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:02:06 +0000 http://www.ratracetrap.com/?p=1857#comment-11121 Hi Ferg and thanks for stopping by to comment. I think you are right about the fact this is a unintuitive process and as the previous article showed our brains are much better at relative rather than absolute decisions. Hi Ferg and thanks for stopping by to comment. I think you are right about the fact this is a unintuitive process and as the previous article showed our brains are much better at relative rather than absolute decisions.

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