A Guide to the Literature on Anchoring: Procedures, Effects, and Mechanisms (Review article)

Anchoring occurs as a result of different cognitive processes, all resulting in the same outcome—a convergence of numerical estimates towards available numbers regardless of their obvious irrelevance. Demonstrable, robust, durable, easy to replicate, and resistant to expertise and interventions, the anchoring effect is found across various domains. This paper presents experimental paradigms of anchoring and reviews the effect's moderators, including characteristics of anchors, environment, and subjects. Also, the necessary and boundary conditions of anchoring are discussed, and existing theoretical models of anchoring are presented along with available debiasing techniques.