How a Bad Option Can Manipulate Your Choice Why do we feel more strongly about one option after a third one is added? Imagine you’re buying popcorn at a movie…
Heuristics
61 Articles
Why We Think the Past Was Better Why do we think the past is better than the future? Have you ever heard someone say: “People were better behaved when I…
Why Your Choices Get Worse as the Day Goes On Why do we make worse decisions at the end of the day? Imagine this. At 8:00 AM, you carefully choose…
Why We Notice What We Already Believe Why do we favor our existing beliefs? Imagine you believe a particular stock is going to soar. You search online. One analyst says:…
Why We Keep Going Even When We Should Stop Why do people support their past ideas, even when presented with evidence that they’re wrong? Imagine you invest $10,000 in a…
How the Mind Protects Itself from Contradictions Why is it so hard to change someone’s beliefs? Imagine someone says: “I care about my health.” But every night, they smoke a…
Why do we have a harder time choosing when we have more options? When More Options Make Us Less Happy Imagine walking into a supermarket to buy jam. One table…
When the Crowd Makes Something Feel More Likely Why do we think we’re more likely to win at the big casino versus the small one? Imagine a lottery with 100…
Why does paying without physical cash increase the likelihood that we purchase something? Why Spending Hurts Less Without Cash Imagine buying a $75 dinner. If you hand over three crisp…
Why are we likely to spend more after reading the word “bye”? Can the Word “Bye” Make You Buy? Imagine reading a travel article that ends with: “Bye-bye!” A few…