Yu-Chen Lin

Key Takeaways: What Is the Illusory Truth Effect? The illusory truth effect, sometimes referred to as the illusion of truth or validity effect, refers to our tendency to accept repeated information as true, even when it’s false. This phenomenon is driven by something called processing fluency, which is essentially our brain’s inclination to favour information […]

Key Takeaways: What Is the Less-Is-Better Effect? The less-is-better effect highlights a quirk in our decision-making: people tend to prefer an objectively inferior option when it’s presented on its own, but they switch their preference to a better option when comparing both side by side. This idea was first put forward by behavioural scientist Christopher

Key Takeaways: What Is Third Person Effect? The Third Person Effect (TPE) is a psychological phenomenon that many of us encounter. It’s the tendency we have to believe that other people are swayed by media messages, like adverts, news articles, or political content, more than we are ourselves. In other words, we often think, “I’m

Key Takeaways: What Is the Endowed Progress Effect? The Endowed Progress Effect highlights a captivating psychological insight: people are more likely to finish tasks when they believe they’ve already made some progress, even if that progress was simply given to them. This straightforward yet impactful motivator can affect our behaviour. When a goal feels as

Key Takeaways: What Is the Pseudocertainty Effect? The pseudocertainty effect is a cognitive bias where people often believe an outcome is guaranteed, even when it’s not, especially in situations with multiple stages of decision-making. We tend to overlook earlier uncertainties, honing in instead on just the final step, which we mistakenly treat as independent and

Key Takeaways: What is Post-Purchase Rationalisation? Post-Purchase Rationalisation (PPR) is a common cognitive bias where we often find ourselves justifying a purchase after the deed is done, usually by playfully exaggerating the benefits or downplaying the flaws. So, when does this happen?  Sometimes referred to as choice-supportive bias or even buyer’s Stockholm Syndrome, PPR allows

Have you ever purchased something on a whim, simply because it was right in front of you? This isn’t just a spur-of-the-moment decision; it’s restraint bias at play. In marketing and consumer psychology, restraint bias refers to our tendency to overestimate our self-control, often leading us to give in to temptation. In this article, we’ll

Why do consumers often prefer complete risk elimination over simply reducing risk? Consider this example: one choice lowers risk from 50% to 25%, while another cuts it from 5% to 0%. Surprisingly, most people opt for the latter option, even when it might not be the most logical choice. This tendency can be explained by