Thinking TrapsUnderstand the patterns shaping your judgment
Cognitive Bias Categories

Economic and Consumer Biases

Consumer biases influence how we value things, justify purchases, and react to scarcity or cost.

01

Mental accounting

Treating money differently depending on its category.

02

Money illusion

Focusing on nominal dollars instead of real purchasing power.

03

IKEA effect

Overvaluing something because you helped make it.

04

Ownership effect

Valuing what you own more than equivalent alternatives.

05

Scarcity bias

Wanting something more because it seems limited.

06

Commitment bias

Sticking with a prior position to appear consistent.

07

Preference falsification

Misstating preferences because honest preferences feel costly.

08

Price-quality heuristic

Assuming higher price means higher quality.

09

Effort justification

Valuing outcomes more because they required effort.

10

Time-saving bias

Misjudging how much time speed changes save.

11

Proportionality bias

Expecting big events to have big causes.

12

Denomination effect

Spending smaller bills or units more easily than larger ones.

13

Pain of paying

Feeling cost differently depending on payment method.

14

Consumer surplus bias

Overfocusing on the deal instead of the need.

15

Identifiable victim effect

Responding more to one named person than many unnamed people.

16

Compassion fade

Feeling less as the number of people affected grows.

17

Psychic numbing

Becoming emotionally numb to very large harms.