The effect of anchoring in product bundles

The anchoring effect can be defined as the first piece of information decision makers have access to, which will influence the future choices they make. Despite the extensive literature on this issue covering a wide range of fields, little research has been done regarding the effect of anchoring in product bundles’ evaluation. Given so, the aim of this research is focused on investigating if the order of presentation of the most expensive item results in different perceptions of the overall bundle evaluation. As an extra analysis, it is intended to know if demographic variables namely age, gender and level of education have an impact on the previously stated relation. According to the results, the anchoring effect, predicted in most literature, could not be replicated in this study. However, studies show that individuals with high levels of product familiarity are less influenced by anchors. Given the high levels of product familiarity of the sample of this study, the author believes that was the reason for the lack of effect of the anchoring phenomenon. Indeed there are features that can weaken the some presumably vigorous anchoring effect which is why it is crucial for sales’ people and organizations in general to have a clear understanding of how the anchoring effect plays in consumers’ decision making process and the way individuals evaluate their offers.O efeito da ancoragem pode ser definido como a primeira fonte de informação a que consumidores têm acesso e que influenciará as suas futuras escolhas. Apesar da extensa literatura sobre esta questão que abrange uma ampla gama de áreas de estudo, poucas pesquisas foram feitas sobre o efeito da ancoragem na avaliação dos pacotes de produtos. Posto isto, o objetivo deste estudo centra-se em testar se a ordem de apresentação do item mais caro, considerado também o mais importante, resulta em diferentes avaliações dos pacotes de produtos. Como uma análise extra, pretende-se saber se as variáveis demográficas nomeadamente, idade, género e o nível de educação, têm um impacto na relação anteriormente mencionada. De acordo com os resultados, o efeito de ancoragem, previsto na maioria da literatura, não foi replicado neste estudo. No entanto, estudos mostram que, indivíduos com altos níveis de familiaridade com o produto são menos influenciados pelo efeito da ancoragem. Dado os altos níveis de familiaridade do produto que a amostra deste estudo apresenta, o autor acredita que esse foi o motivo pela falta de influência do efeito da ancoragem. Na verdade, existem características que podem enfraquecer o presumivelmente vigoroso efeito da ancoragem e por essa razão é crucial que as pessoas e as organizações de vendas em geral tenham uma compreensão clara do papel do efeito de ancoragem no processo de tomada de decisão dos consumidores e como estes avaliam as ofertas em seu redor

The impact of surgical delay on resectability of colorectal cancer: An international prospective cohort study

AimThe SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has provided a unique opportunity to explore the impact of surgical delays on cancer resectability. This study aimed to compare resectability for colorectal cancer patients undergoing delayed versus non-delayed surgery.MethodsThis was an international prospective cohort study of consecutive colorectal cancer patients with a decision for curative surgery (January-April 2020). Surgical delay was defined as an operation taking place more than 4 weeks after treatment decision, in a patient who did not receive neoadjuvant therapy. A subgroup analysis explored the effects of delay in elective patients only. The impact of longer delays was explored in a sensitivity analysis. The primary outcome was complete resection, defined as curative resection with an R0 margin.ResultsOverall, 5453 patients from 304 hospitals in 47 countries were included, of whom 6.6% (358/5453) did not receive their planned operation. Of the 4304 operated patients without neoadjuvant therapy, 40.5% (1744/4304) were delayed beyond 4 weeks. Delayed patients were more likely to be older, men, more comorbid, have higher body mass index and have rectal cancer and early stage disease. Delayed patients had higher unadjusted rates of complete resection (93.7% vs. 91.9%, P = 0.032) and lower rates of emergency surgery (4.5% vs. 22.5%, P ConclusionOne in 15 colorectal cancer patients did not receive their planned operation during the first wave of COVID-19. Surgical delay did not appear to compromise resectability, raising the hypothesis that any reduction in long-term survival attributable to delays is likely to be due to micro-metastatic disease