Psychological Biases and Websites
Psychological biases are mental shortcuts or errors that affect how we perceive, process and interpret information. They can influence our judgment, decision-making and behavior in various situations. Psychological biases can be conscious or unconscious, and they can result from cognitive limitations, emotional factors, social pressures or environmental cues³⁶.
Some of the common psychological biases that influence human decision-making are:
- Confirmation bias: This is the tendency to seek, interpret and remember information that confirms our existing beliefs or hypotheses. Confirmation bias can lead us to ignore or dismiss evidence that contradicts our views, and to overestimate our confidence and accuracy²⁶.
- Availability heuristic: This is the tendency to judge the likelihood or frequency of an event based on how easily we can recall examples from memory. Availability heuristic can make us overestimate the probability of rare but salient events, such as plane crashes or shark attacks, and underestimate the probability of common but less noticeable events, such as car accidents or heart disease²⁶.
- Anchoring bias: This is the tendency to rely too much on the first piece of information we receive when making decisions. Anchoring bias can affect our estimation of values, quantities or outcomes by making us adjust insufficiently from an initial reference point²⁶.
- Framing effect: This is the tendency to be influenced by how information is presented rather than by its actual content. Framing effect can affect our choices and preferences by making us react differently to different wordings, contexts or formats of the same information²⁶.
- Hindsight bias: This is the tendency to believe that we knew or could have predicted an outcome after it has occurred. Hindsight bias can make us overestimate our ability to foresee events, and underestimate the role of chance or uncertainty²⁶.
- Social proof: Websites show us reviews, ratings, testimonials or social media shares from other customers to make us trust their products or services more1. This is because we tend to follow the behavior of others who are similar to us or who have more expertise or authority than us2.
- Cross-selling: Websites offer us related or complementary products or services to increase the value of our purchase1. This is because we tend to buy more when we see how well different items go together or how much we can save by buying them as a bundle2.
- Anchor pricing: Websites display a higher original price next to a lower discounted price to make us think we are getting a good deal1. This is because we tend to compare prices relative to a reference point rather than their absolute value2.
- Giving something for free: Websites offer us free shipping, free trials, free gifts or free returns to make us feel obliged to buy something from them1. This is because we tend to reciprocate when someone does something nice for us or gives us something valuable for free2.
- Creating urgency with scarcity: Websites use countdown timers, limited stock indicators or phrases like “last chance” or “only one left” to make us act fast before we miss out on an opportunity1. This is because we tend to value things more when they are scarce or exclusive and fear losing them more than gaining them2.
- Visual tricks: Websites use colors, fonts, images, layouts or animations to draw our attention, create emotions or influence our perception2. For example, websites may use red color for call-to-action buttons to convey urgency and excitement, large fonts for headlines to emphasize importance and contrast, images of happy people using their products or services to evoke positive feelings and social proof, symmetrical layouts for balance and harmony and animations for engagement and interactivity.
- Express checkout: Websites allow us to buy something with one click or without creating an account to reduce the friction and time involved in the purchase process1. This is because we tend to avoid tasks that require too much effort or cognitive load and prefer convenience and simplicity when making decisions2.
- Cart abandonment emails: Websites send us emails reminding us of the items we left in our cart and offering us incentives like discounts or bonuses to complete our purchase1. This is because we tend to experience regret when we miss out on something that we wanted but didn’t buy and feel more motivated when we receive personalized messages that appeal to our emotions and needs2.
- The stalker detector: Websites track our online activity and show us personalized ads based on our interests, preferences or browsing history3. This is because we tend to pay more attention and respond better to ads that are relevant and tailored to our situation and goals rather than generic ones that don’t match our needs 4.
- Learning whilst teaching: Websites ask us to rate their products or services after we use them to make us feel more satisfied and loyal towards them [5][6]. This is because we tend to learn better and remember more when we teach others what we know rather than just consuming information [6][7].
Source: Conversation with Bing, 22/02/2023(1) What Is Cognitive Bias? | Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive-bias.html Accessed 22/02/2023.
(2) What Is Cognitive Bias? - Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-cognitive-bias-2794963 Accessed 22/02/2023.
(3) Decision-Making Biases - Psychological & Cognitive Bias in Decision .... https://harappa.education/harappa-diaries/decision-making-biases/ Accessed 22/02/2023.
(4) The 5 Biggest Biases That Affect Decision-Making. https://bing.com/search?q=psychological+biases+influence+human+decision+making Accessed 22/02/2023.
(5) Psychological Biases to Avoid When Decision-Making in Business. https://slidemodel.com/psychological-biases/ Accessed 22/02/2023.
(6) 12 Common Biases That Affect How We Make Everyday Decisions. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/thoughts-thinking/201809/12-common-biases-affect-how-we-make-everyday-decisions Accessed 22/02/2023.
