Default effect

What it is

Sticking with the pre-selected option, which is why defaults strongly shape behaviour.

Related

• Framing effect bias
  Both are choice-architecture effects: how options are presented decides what people choose.
• Status quo bias bias
  The default is the status quo, so defaults are powerful.
• Decision fatigue bias
  When we are tired of deciding, we take the default.

Appears in

• The 99 thinking errors in Rolf Dobelli's The Art of Thinking Clearly#81: Default effect

References

• Wikipedia: Default effect en.wikipedia.org
• The 99 thinking errors in Rolf Dobelli's The Art of Thinking Clearly en.wikipedia.org
• Wikipedia: List of cognitive biases en.wikipedia.org
• Wikipedia: Cognitive bias codex en.wikipedia.org

More in “Deciding and acting: incentives, loss and commitment”