Thought: Real world anchoring

Anchoring is the heuristic where if we experience a piece of information (large or small) it affects how we perceive the next bit of information we are exposed to. It can be used to stunning effect in pricing.

Imagine if you see three pots of jam priced in the following way:

• Premium Jam: £5
• Middle Jam: £2
• Bargain Jam: 50p

Many of us will choose Middle Jam. Why? Bargain Jam seems too cheap giving rise to the feeling that "there might be something wrong with it". Premium Jam has the reverse problem, it seems expensive compared to the others - but it has an important role in making Middle Jam feel about right. And this is regardless of whether Middle Jam is actually good value for money.

I have had a lovely example of this recently. For around six months, I've been using a 14kg kettlebell for dead lifts and swings. The main reason was a purely functional one: my bike has a similar mass and  occasionally I need to lift it over stiles and fences.

Initially, the kettle bell felt quite hard work, but I've slowly progressed to one handed rather than two handed swings and lifts and increased the number of each.  Six months in, and I have now caught the bug - and thought about a heavier kettle bell.

A 28kg one appeared on sale, and against all of the standard advice of slowly progressing I thought I'd at least try it out and maybe see I could do one or two lifts or swings with this alongside my 14kg bell. To my surprise, the new bell was noticeably heavier but I could manage the same workout (two handed rather than one handed) with it.

The old bell, however, now felt super light by comparison. It had never felt that way before. The power of anchoring in action!