I found Pullman’s definition of cognitive bias particularly interesting in that it was so simple and almost forgiving. He calls them “tendencies toward distortion that all people are prone to.” Though Pullman is talking about a psychological condition, there is no scientific jargon in his definition. It’s more approachable. I feel like this is a persuasive if not strategic move on Pullman’s part. In a Google search, Chegg returns the first definition for cognitive bias as “a mistake in reasoning, evaluating, remembering, or other cognitive process, often occurring as a result of holding onto one’s preferences and beliefs regardless of contrary information.” To me, this definition seems more distant, while Pullman’s seemed personal, like “Hey, we all do it.” It’s like a flaw that makes us human. By accepting this as such, we can avoid one of the specific types of cognitive bias which is “Blind Spot Bias,” or the inability to recognize your own bias, resulting in a bias in and of itself.
A specific type of cognitive bias that struck me during the readings was the anchoring bias. For the past few months, I have been working in a retail clothing store. The prices for items generally range between $100 and $400, give or take. For context, the store rarely runs sales on full priced items. Over the holiday weekend, we ran a promotion called, “Spend to Get.” Whether shoppers bought full price or sale items, as long as they spent $200, they would receive 20% off their purchase. If they spent $300, they would receive 25% off their purchase, and if they spent $400, they would receive 30% off their purchase. It’s an obvious incentive to spend more money in the store. Some people were turned off by the sale; however, the large majority talked about how they wouldn’t normally buy items x,y & z, but it was “such a good deal!” We sold lots of cashmere, outerwear and other high priced items because people wanted the sale. Alternatively, we sold lots of the store’s lowest priced items like costume jewelry or stationary. Some customers felt the need to spend more just to reach the next bracket up in percentage off.
To me, this seemed to be the perfect example of anchoring bias. Shoppers could look at the tags & see the initial, full price of items available for purchase, and by offering the incentive to spend, shoppers feel like they’re getting a good deal. However, going against the grain a little bit, I realized by jumping to this as my first example, I was initially falling victim to a cognitive bias myself. The “Blind Spot Bias” notes that people more often recognize cognitive bias in others than in themselves. As an employee, I receive an employee discount on clothing. I’ve found that when I go shopping, now I’ll look at items and think I could just get something similar at work for the same price and maybe even nicer quality. I’m more motivated to spend at work because I know the retail price, and I feel like I’m getting a good deal.
This section was very interesting in that it made me reflect on myself and things going on in my own life.
Gracefully Emily 
I like how you related this section in the book on cognitive bias and how you related that back to work. His definition of cognitive bias was a lot more simple than the typical definitions of the words. Because of the simplicity of his definition, I think that that is why you were able to see it in yourself more so. I felt the same way. It was interesting to pretty much read your thought processes as you typed this article; it added to the my understanding of the section for sure. I would say that without having read this section of the book; it would have been almost impossible to recognize your own blind spot bias so quickly. This is probably what Pullman was going for when he challenged us to read our own writings “against the grain.” Great insight for sure.
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Nice job going against the grain on your post! I agree that Pullman’s definition of cognitive biases was more reader-friendly than what I’ve heard before. I find your point about cognitive biases as the pitfalls that are the flaws that makes us human to be interesting. Do you think that our recognizing our own cognitive biases helps us avoid them, or try to compensate for them? Is there any way to “perfect” this flaw using logic? I see that it does help in avoiding the blind-spot bias that Pullman refers to, but the cognitive bias does still exist. Are there other measures that we could take to avoid biases in our thinking?
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I loved reading your response! I felt this way primarily because I feel like I could have written it myself — I also work in retail and have a LOT of time to observe the patterns of shoppers and how cognitive biases may come into play.
The store that I work in offers a rewards program that customers must pay to join ($10). Upper management heavily emphasizes to employees (me) that we should be selling this program. If a customer buys the rewards program, she gets 5% back on all future purchases as well as a few other benefits (weekly coupons, etc.). It all sounds like a good deal when we’re selling it, but the truth is that a vast majority of the people who buy the program do not make their money “back” through the 5% they get back to use in the store. Instead, they maybe get a couple dollars that only slightly “add up” to take a few bucks off of the initial $10 cost.
So I’ve said all of this to point out that most people seem really apt to buy into “deal” due to some cognitive bias they might have that says they’re saving money when in reality they’re spending more than they ever would (even by intentionally shopping at my store in order to “get back” the $10 they spent on the membership — in the end they’re spending much more in the store than they would have before and the store knows this).
These kind of cognitive biases “work” very well against us and very well for stores that offer such sales and programs. So how do we avoid this? Are all biases like this bad for us or could some work in our favor? Are we ever really getting a deal? Is it unethical for corporations to fool us like this or is it simply our fault for falling for (really pretty good) persuasion tactics?
Is there anything similar you (or anyone else) could think of that stores do to “encourage” cognitive biases?
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Hey Elise! I loved reading your response to my response! Haha. I wanted to respond to a couple points you made, especially the one on rewards programs because as I was reading what you wrote, I was sipping on my “free drink reward” latte from Starbucks after having previously earned 125 stars from making purchases through their rewards program.
At times, I definitely spend more than I would (or should) at Starbucks simply because I want the stars. Today is a “double star day” where I can earn more stars per purchase, and where am I today?? Starbucks! Now this is the part that I recognize is not necessarily a good deal. I wouldn’t have come to Starbucks today, but they persuaded me & I caved. I bought something from the bakery just for the stars. However on the other hand, I used my “free drink” & ordered a drink with extra shots of espresso in it, because I knew it would be free. Would I normally pay over $7 for one latte? No, no, no. But it’s my “reward!” I’m getting a good deal. I’m splurging on their dime.
At the end of the day, I’m probably spending more by feeling an incentive to buy Starbucks for the rewards. This program isn’t a straight up good deal, but it’s not a bad one either. I can save time by using the mobile order feature on my phone & ultimately I’m responsible for how many stars I earn & how often I get rewarded. I think as long as we understand it’s an incentive program, we can’t blame the corporations & say they’re unethical.
Ethics and sales are tricky. It’s a company’s job, as well as an employee of that company, to push their product, but it’s the way one goes about it that’s important. For example, a company that marks up their merchandise before discounting it for a “sale” is not ethical. If there’s a promotion going on at my store, I’m not going to tell a woman she should buy a $300 dress if it doesn’t look right or she’s not in love with it. That’s not persuasion at that point, it’s dishonesty. I think there’s a responsibility both for the companies and the customers to be aware & to make sure their deal can be defended as a “good deal.” Because if there’s not something that really does benefit the consumer, nothing makes a more dissatisfied customer than one who feels like they’ve been duped.
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