Joanna is shopping online at one of her favorite retailers and starts the checkout process. The next page contains a pre-checked box that indicates Joanna will receive promotional e-mails from the company she's buying from, and the directions instruct her to uncheck the box if she does not wish to receive these e-mails. This practice is an example of:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is an example of status quo bias, where individuals are likely to stick with a given situation when faced with having to make an effort to change it. In this case, the pre-checked box makes receiving promotional e-mails the default (or status quo) option, and the effort required to opt out may lead some customers to accept the default option even if they might not have actively chosen it otherwise.

Joanna Is Shopping Online at One of Her Favorite Retailers