Cognitive Factor: Guide To 99 Cognitive Biases

By Satish Gaire

Cognitive Biases are like little tricks that our brains play on us. They happen when our brains take shortcuts to help us make decisions quickly, but sometimes these shortcuts can lead us to make mistakes.

In this thought-provoking book, "Cognitive Factor: Guide To 99 Cognitive Biases," you'll embark o

• Language: English
• Publisher: Satish Gaire
• Release date: Jun 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781951403096

Satish Gaire

Satish Gaire is an internet marketer and entrepreneur. He is known as the "King of SaaS" platforms in the industry. In his 10-year career, he has launched over 700+ software products online. These softwares has helped millions of people worldwide operate and expand their business.

Book preview

More options leads to harder decisions

DESCRIPTION:

Hick’s Law, also known as the Hick-Hyman Law, is a psychological principle that describes the relationship between the number of choices presented to a person and the time it takes for them to make a decision. According to this law, the more options someone has, the longer it takes for them to make a decision.

HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES TO ILLUSTRATE THIS CONCEPT:

Restaurant menus: Been to a restaurant with an extensive menu and found it difficult to decide what to order? That’s because the more options you have to choose from, the longer it takes to make a decision.

Apple vs Others: Apple utilizes this tactic by having limited product while it’s competitors have hundreds to choose from.

People look for evidence that confirms what they think

DESCRIPTION:

The tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories. Most people have their own specific beliefs on every aspect of life and it clouds them from seeing the real truth because they only see what they already believe in.

This is why political campaigners focus on making their existing base show up for voting rather than trying to convince the other party because their base already believes what they have to say. As a marketer, you should not force too much to change someones mind, rather sell products/services that fuels their belief

EXAMPLE: A person who believes that global warming is real may be more likely to believe news reports that confirm their beliefs, and less likely to believe reports that contradict their beliefs. This is an example of confirmation bias.

Previous stimuli influence users’ decision

DESCRIPTION:

If you expose a person to information over and over, it influences how they make their decisions. Priming can also be put to use by associating a brand with goodwill such as climate change advocates, and status.

This is why Retargeting ads work so well because it exposes a person who has seen your product multiple times which forces them to make a logical conclusion to act.

FUN FACT: If you are shown a picture of a smiling face before taking a test, you may be more likely to score higher because you are in a positive mood.

The total amount of mental effort that is required to complete a task

DESCRIPTION:

Cognitive load relates to the amount of information that working memory can hold at one time. Since working memory has a limited capacity, instructional methods should avoid overloading it with additional activities that don’t directly contribute to learning. A high cognitive load can lead to errors and decreased performance.

EXAMPLE: A person who is trying to remember a list of items while also trying to pay attention to a conversation may have a high cognitive load and may have difficulty remembering all the items on the list.

PRACTICAL TIP: A lot of people make a 10+ to-do list to have a productive day but end up not getting anything done because their brain cannot handle it, instead, try to focus on doing only 2-3 main things a day.

Users rely heavily on the first piece of information they see

DESCRIPTION:

Anchoring bias is a cognitive bias that occurs when people rely too heavily on the first piece of information they receive when making decisions. The initial information acts as an anchor, influencing their subsequent judgments and decisions.

EXAMPLES:

Pricing: A store offers a product with an original price of $100, but then they put it on sale for $50. Even though the sale price is still high, customers may feel like they’re getting a great deal.

Salary Negotiation: If the employer offers a relatively low starting salary, the candidate may then negotiate for only a slightly higher salary, thinking that it’s still an improvement over the initial