Availability Bias

Availability bias explains why people overestimate the likelihood of shark attacks. If you can quickly or easily think of an example of a situation, then you tend to think it’s more likely. But since emotionally charged memories (those with fear, anger, or frustration) tend to come to mind easier than non-charged memories, we overestimate their likelihood. (And if it’s harder to think of an example, we think those are less likely to happen.)

Applications

• An individual heard a story of a child who got sick after a vaccine. Since it’s a story that evokes fear, they think of it easily and think it’s likely to happen to their child. So they decide to not vaccinate their child.

• A woman heard that someone had trouble getting pregnant after using a certain family planning method. She’s afraid that might happen, so doesn’t want to use any methods.

What it is not:

Placing more importance on information from people you think are attractive or whom you like – that is the halo effect.

Quirks for Understanding

• Availability bias

• Choice overload

• Ego depletion

• Fundamental attribution error

• Hassle factors

• Hot cold empathy gap

• Information overload

• Licensing

• Ostriching

• Planning fallacy

• Procrastination

• Prospective memory failure

• Scarcity mindset/Tunnelling

• Status quo bias

• Stereotype threat

• Time action gap

Quirks for Amplifying

• Choice architecture

• Commitment device

• Deadlines

• Defaults

• Endowment effect

• Fresh start effect

• Goal gradient

• Hedonic framing

• Identity

• IKEA effect

• Lottery effect

• Partitioning

• Plan making (MCII)

• Reminders

• Rewards/Recognition

• Simplification

• Social proof