Anchoring and the Power of Suggestion

Overview

Objectives/Goals In this experiment, whether or not the power of suggestion affects people#s decision making was tested. Specifically, the experiment sought to see if anchoring (a technique used to #anchor#, or control the way in which people form their decisions concerning numerical uncertainty) affected an estimate of an unknown amount. Methods/Materials The experimental strategy that I used to conduct my experiment was making sure that all the anchoring that was done was very subtle so it wouldn#t cause my subjects to become suspicious of the purpose of the questions. I used very few materials in this experiment. Since I was only asking people questions, it was not necessary for me to have any materials in order to conduct the experiment. The only materials I used were a pen, paper, computer and calculator. Results For the first question which asked, #What percent of teens do you think own their own car?# the average percent (without an anchor) ended up to be 28.9%. With an anchor increased 25% (the anchor was 36%) the average ended up to be 38.4%. With an anchor decreased by 25% (the anchor was 22%) the average ended up to be 32.6%. For the question, #What percent of students do you think graduate with a 3.5 or higher?# the average percent ended up to be 36.1%. With the higher anchor (45%) the average ended up to be 43.3%. With the lower anchor (27%) the average ended up to be 32.1%. Using the question, #What percent of teens do you think play an instrument?# the average percent was 46.2%. With the higher anchor (58%) the average was 38.2%. Using the lower anchor (35%) the average was 31.5%. Conclusions/Discussion From the final data that I collected from my experiment, I have found that it does support my hypothesis. My hypothesis was that the power of suggestion will have an influence on people#s. My experiment shows that when I provided people with a high anchor, the average answers were closer to the suggested answer. And when I suggested a low answer, the average answers were closer to that anchor.

Competition history

• CSEF 2002 Behavioral Sciences · Entry S0307

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