Heuristics and Cognitive Biases
The productive tension
Heuristics as errorsandas adaptive shortcuts
The synthesis
Kahneman and Tversky framed heuristics as sources of systematic bias -- deviations from rational norms that lead to predictable errors. Gigerenzer framed the same heuristics as adaptive tools -- fast and frugal strategies that produce good-enough decisions in uncertain environments with remarkable efficiency. Both framings are correct, depending on context. A heuristic that produces a biased outcome in a laboratory experiment may produce an excellent outcome in the messy, information-poor real world. The evidence-based marketer understands heuristics as features of an efficient cognitive system, not bugs to be exploited. They design for heuristics ethically -- making good choices easy, not making bad choices invisible.
Learning objectives
- →Define heuristics and explain their role in System 1 processing as established in F2-02
- →Describe the major heuristics relevant to marketing (availability, anchoring, representativeness, status quo bias, loss aversion, endowment effect, social proof, scarcity) including the mechanism and evidence for each
- →Apply each heuristic to specific marketing contexts with concrete examples
- →Evaluate the Gigerenzer counter-argument that heuristics are adaptive rather than erroneous
- →Identify the ethical boundary between designing for heuristics (nudging) and exploiting them (manipulation)
Members only
This lecture is part of a paid plan
The first lecture of every module is free — no account needed. The rest unlocks with a subscription. One price, all 120 lectures, both languages.