The Penetration and Influence of the Anchoring Effect in the Daily Consumption Decisions of College Students

Abstract

The anchoring effect, as an important theory in behavioral economics and cognitive psychology, has a wide influence in the field of consumer decision-making. As a special consumer group, college students’ consumption behavior is characterized by individuality, impulsiveness and group dependence. Based on the theoretical connotation of anchoring effect, this paper systematically studies its penetration mechanism in college students’ consumption decision-making, analyzes the specific influences of price anchor point, product anchor point and situation anchor point on consumption behavior, reveals the cognitive deviation and decision-making trap it brings, and puts forward countermeasures from three dimensions: personal cognition improvement, consumption education optimization and marketing environment standardization. This provides a theoretical reference for guiding college students’ rational consumption and perfecting the consumption education system.