H E U R I S T I C S in our lives

A heuristic is a rule or method used to solve problems faster than you would if you did all of the computing. We do not have time to make long drawn out decisions about everything we do in our lives, or we would just spend the whole day making a few decisions. Heuristics are also known as a "rule of thumb" when it comes to making decisions.

Below is an example of the scarcity heuristic... you may find that you also succumb to this!

I found this picture to be funny because it is such a good representation of how we make decisions in our lives. Without even realizing it, we so easily succumb to the scarcity heuristic. The scarcity heuristic states when an object or a resource is less readily available, we perceive it as more valuable. Just like these oranges; when they were "ordinary" oranges, nobody was buying them, when "deal of the day" was added to the basket, more people were drawn in, and when "best selling oranges" was also added, they were gone in no time. 

Researchers Worchel, Lee, and Adewole discovered that by placing the exact same cookies in two of the exact same jars, one containing ten cookies and the other containing two, consumers were more likely to choose a cookie from the jar containing less. This experiment was done in 1975, and still holds very true today. They found consumers valued the scarce cookies more because they got the impression that they must be the better cookies, or else so many people wouldn't have bought them. It did not matter if the cookies were exactly the same - the scarce ones appear to look at taste more appealing. Tricky! 

Do you find yourself doing the same thing when making a decision between several alternatives??

Marketers are very knowledgeable about the various heuristics that exist - which gives them the upper hand when appealing to consumers. They are better able to label products, place them in the perfect spot, and increase the appeal to a product that has not actually changed. This doesn't mean it is necessarily used in a negative manner, in fact it is our job as consumers to be aware of the heuristics that exist and make decisions based on facts. 

Resources:

http://www.behavioraleconomics.com/mini-encyclopedia-of-be/scarcity-heuristic/

http://www.nirandfar.com/2013/07/psychology-of-scarcity.html