Numerical Anchoring Effects: The influences of Anchor Plausibility, Product Knowledge and Source Credibility on Products Perceptions

Abstract

Numerical anchoring has been found to depend on the extremity of the anchor, the anchor perceived plausible or implausible, the judge’s knowledge toward target judgment, and expertise of the source of the anchor. Two experiments were conducted to study these striking parallels. In experiment one, the relations of anchor extremity and the judge’s knowledge were investigated. Three levels of anchor extremity were adopted —moderate, extreme, and very extreme anchors. We hypothesized that for high knowledge judges, anchoring effects increased when moderate anchors were used and decreased when extreme anchor or very extreme anchors were used; for low knowledge judges, anchoring effects increased when moderate anchors or extreme anchor were used and decreased when very extreme anchors were used. In experiment two, the relation of anchor extremity and expertise of the source of the anchor were investigated. Two levels of anchor extremity were adopted —moderate and extreme anchors. We hypothesized that for high source expertise of the anchor, extreme anchors would lead to larger anchoring effects than moderate anchors; for low source expertise of the anchor, extreme anchors would lead to smaller anchoring effects than moderate anchors. Though the results partly confirmed our prediction, the findings are consistent with our inference. Implications of numerical anchoring are discussed.