15 Decision-Making Flaws

In reading about customer behavior, I’ve put together a list of decision-making flaws.    Not much in the way of commentary here – just making a note of the list itself:

• Ambiguity Aversion – Avoiding making decisions when the relevant information is unknown or uncertain
• Anecdotal Evidence – Being persuaded by anecdotes that agree with beliefs, even when they are anecdotes of unusual situations
• Availability Bias – Making a decision based on information that is readily available even if it is not the most relevant
• Rules of Thumb – Applying simplistic rules to complex decisions, even when they do not apply
• Status Quo Bias – Preferring the solution that causes the least change rather than a more effective alternative
• Default Effects – Agreeing with what is suggested rather than considering other options
• Self-Control – Seeking the easiest solution rather than the best
• Procrastination – Refusing to decide or act when a situation is perceived as being too far in the future to matter
• Hyperbolic Discounting – Grossly underestimating the negative or positive impact of events that are further in the future
• Emotionalism – Choosing the option that has the most positive or least negative impact on the emotions during the decision-making process
• Reference Dependence – Creating an arbitrary benchmark against which other alternatives must be weighed (without proving the validity of the benchmark)
• Choice Bracketing – Making choices in isolation, ignoring the impact they have on other factors
• Framing Effects – Limiting the consideration of a subject to the context in which it is framed
• Choice Architecture – Constraining decisions to an arbitrary set of options
• Cognitive Filtering – Making a quick decision and giving attention only to information that supports it

I don't expect this is comprehensive, just a listing of the ones that one author chose to mention, but it's a good start on a more extensive exploration of the topic.