Читать книгу Social Psychology - Daniel W. Barrett - Страница 130

Hypothesis: Estimates of the value of goods would diverge more from the anchor if given imprecise or rounded anchors versus more precise anchors.

Research Method: Participants were randomly assigned to receive either imprecise or precise anchor values for a variety of consumer goods, including a plasma TV, beverage, or a chunk of cheese. For example, some participants were given the estimates $5,000, $10, and $5, respectively, whereas others were given $4,998, $9.80, and $4.85. Participants were asked to estimate the actual costs of these items.

Results: Estimates in the imprecise condition diverged significantly more from their respective anchors than did estimates in the precise condition.

Conclusion: People seem to have greater confidence in the validity of precise values than rounded values and consequently make smaller adjustments to them. This finding has real-world implications. For example, people who are negotiating the price of a home or the amount of a legal settlement may gain a more favorable outcome if they initially offer a specific price or settlement amount.

Source: Janiszewski, C., & Uy, D. (2008). Precision of the anchor influences the amount of adjustment. Psychological Science, 19, 121–127.