托福口语 Task 3

The concept of 'anchoring' refers to the tendency of individuals to rely heavily on the first piece of information they encounter (the 'anchor') when making decisions, even if that information is irrelevant or arbitrary. Once an anchor is set, subsequent judgments are made by adjusting away from that anchor, but the adjustments are often insufficient. This cognitive bias affects pricing, negotiations, and even everyday choices. Anchors can be numerical, such as a suggested retail price, or qualitative, like a first impression. The effect is robust and occurs unconsciously, influencing outcomes even when the anchor is clearly random.

Professor: Let me give you an example from a real estate study. In the lecture, I described how agents were shown a house and given a list price—some were told $200,000, others $150,000. Even though they all saw the same house and had access to the same market data, the agents who saw the higher list price estimated the house's value as significantly higher than those who saw the lower price. They adjusted their valuation from the anchor, but not enough. For instance, one agent said, 'The price is a bit high, but the location is great, so maybe $210,000,' while another with the lower anchor said, 'This is a good deal, so maybe $160,000.' The initial price served as an anchor, pulling their final appraisals toward it, even though they knew the list price was negotiable and not necessarily market value.