Applications of the Anchoring Effect in Online Shopping Festivals

Abstract

Nowadays, online shopping festivals are prevalent and effective at boosting e-commerce. Research focused on online consumer behaviours did not consider anchoring, a heuristic consumers use, during the decision-making process of purchasing, whereas studies of the anchoring effect failed to shed light on online shopping. This paper aims to explain the psychology behind five major strategies used by online retailers to explore the applications of the anchoring effect on online shopping festivals, which are ideal for examining online consumer behaviours involving impulse buying. It was found that sellers can exploit the anchoring effect by discounts, brand images, quantity anchors, bundles, and coupons to attract consumers to buy their products during online shopping festivals. Consumers, noticing the anchors offered by sellers, such as previous prices of items on sale, adjust insufficiently from them, resulting in biased estimations of the true value of products. Finally, suggestions for consumers, online shopping platforms, and the government to mitigate the anchoring effect are given. This paper provides guidance on both using and mitigating the anchoring effect for sellers and consumers online.