Anchor Bias or Anchor BS?

Anchoring bias: People tend to rely on the first piece of information they hear. As a result, people fail to adequately adjust for new information. For example, in monetary negotiations the range of possibilities in each person’s mind is established by whomever makes the first offer.

Anchors are considered an important part of persuasion, particularly in sales. It’s claimed that once the anchor is set, subsequent offers below the anchor seem reasonable and consumers are more inclined to make a purchase then they otherwise would have been without the anchor.

If a consumer is shown a $2,000 suit first, then suggesting a $100 shirt afterwards will result in more sales of shirts than if the consumer is shown just the shirt.

This is complete bullsh*t of course. I had an e-commerce business selling beard care products. I set my website up to show visitors a $1,500 hand-made Viking sword first. Below the sword was the $30 beard care products. Based on the literature, there should have been a perceptible increase in converting visitors to sales versus the period without the sword. There wasn’t. This “behavioral science” optimization failed to move the need. At. All.

I know what your going to say: “But your example is anecdotal!” And I’m going to replay, “maybe, but there’s a replicability crisis in behavioral science for a reason. It’s mostly bullsh*t. Look it up.”