In the experiment conducted by Ariely, Loewenstein and Prelec (2003), subjects were first asked whether they would buy a box of Belgian chocolates, and some other items, for more than the last two digits of their social security number. E.g., if the last two digits are 25 they were asked whether they would pay more than $25. When subjects found the price to be expensive, they were then asked how much they would be willing to pay.

Given the outcomes of the experiment in the figure, interpret the results of the study by explaining the consistency of the research findings with anchoring effect.

25 20 15 Amount willing to pay ($) IIII Lowest 20% 20-40% 40-60% 60-80% Highest 20 Last two digits of social security number