The Anchoring Effect Read online "𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘥: 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘎𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘣𝘺." Why does this line work? Well, it's due to a great use of the 𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭. Anchoring = "𝘝𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵." In a 2022 study¹, 404 shoppers tested how reference prices affect perceived value. When Ben & Jerry’s ($3.99 for 16oz) was shown next to Walmart’s cheaper $1.99 tub, only 27% rated Ben & Jerry's as great value. But when paired with a costlier $4.99 Halo...

Goal Dilution Effect Read online Keen listeners of Nudge will have heard Richard Shotton explain how Five Guys succeeded because they limited the number of items on their menu. Taken from Shotton's episode in late 2025. They focused on just burgers and chips. That helped them improve and benefit from economies of scale. But it also helped them psychologically, due to the goal dilution effect. Here's why: In a 2007 study by Zhang and Fishbach¹, participants were given information about how...

Pratfall Effect Read online A few months ago on Reddit, someone asked, "Is this the best Black Friday marketing campaign?" Personally, I think it's disingenuous garbage, but clearly, something about this type of ad resonates with some. And it might be because of the first two words. "We're sorry." In 2024¹ a number of researchers from Belgium ran four experiments. They tested what happened when a company apologised for a trivial mistake. In one study, participants were shown an email from a...