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Anchoring Bias

The first number you hear changes every number that comes after it — even when it has nothing to do with the question.

Anchoring is brutally simple. Your brain latches onto the first piece of information it receives and uses it as a reference point for everything that follows. A jacket listed at $500 marked down to $200 feels like a deal. The same jacket listed at $200 with no context just feels like a $200 jacket. The $500 was meaningless — but it changed your perception completely.

This works everywhere, not just shopping. Salary negotiations start with whoever names a number first. Political debates are shaped by whoever frames the opening position. News coverage anchors your sense of what's normal by reporting certain figures and ignoring others. The anchor doesn't have to be accurate. It doesn't even have to be relevant. It just has to get there first.

Researchers have shown that even random numbers — literally spinning a wheel — affect people's subsequent estimates on completely unrelated topics. That's how deep this goes. Your rational mind thinks it's evaluating independently. It isn't.

Whoever sets the anchor controls the conversation. The next time someone opens with a number, a claim, or a frame — notice it. Ask yourself: would I think differently if that starting point had never been mentioned?

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