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		Manoj Thomas
		Director, Business Simulation Laboratory Associate Professor of Marketing Email: manojthomas@cornell.edu 353 Sage Hall Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853-6201 Phone: 607-255-7207 Cornell University Webpage
Heuristics in Consumer Decision Making
Heuristics are decision-making rules or cognitive strategies that simplify complex decisions. We use heuristics, sometimes consciously and sometimes unconsciously, to efficiently navigate through the complex maze of everyday decisions. We often apply heuristics inappropriately resulting in irrational decisions; therefore, studying irrational decisions can inform us about the underlying heuristics. My research has identified several irrational patterns in consumer decisions – such as the left digit effect, the ease-of-computation effect, the precision effect, and the credit card effect – that characterize some of the reoccurring heuristics in consumer decisions. I use laboratory experiments to study when and why consumers use these heuristics. The consumer insights from such experiments help managers as well as consumers make better decisions.