Anchoring and the Signature Beverage Package

[sailandcruise]

"Anchoring" is a term used in cognitive psychology to refer to the tendency of people to make decisions by adjusting their value from an initial piece of information, even one that has nothing to do with the actual decision. For example, in an experiment in which people were asked to write down the last two digits of their social security number and then to estimate the price of an item such as wine, chocolate, or computer equipment, those with higher two-digit numbers consistently bid 60 to 120 percent higher for the same items.

 

What does this have to do with the Signature Beverage Package? Well, on my most recent cruise a table mate who had this package would try to "get his money's worth" by having the maximum allowable number (15) of drinks each day. If HAL did not have this maximum, then the only relevant number would have been the "break-even" point of seven drinks per day, when the cost of these drinks if purchased individually first exceeds the price paid per day for the Signature Beverage Package, so he would have stopped when he had had enough rather than trying for 15. Perhaps if there were no maximum number, passengers with the SBP would actually drink less than they do with the maximum. I wonder if HAL's marketing department made a mistake? It would certainly be an interesting experiment if they removed the maximum on randomly selected cruises and compared the number of drinks per person for these cruises and the ones with the maximum.

 

BTW, I learned about this phenomena and others in a book I found in the library aboard -- kudos to HAL for having a much better selection of books in its libraries than their competitors do. And for those of you -- if any -- who may be interested in this phenomena, there is a Wikipedia article on anchoring that explains it further.

 

Yes, I did choose this thread title to arouse your curiosity about what anchoring a ship could possibly have to do with the SBP. But no, I didn't have either 7 or 15 (or any) drinks before writing this post. :D

[OVgirl]

Thank you, something to think about.

[mariner]

But if they rang the bell or honked the horn, would he have pressed a bar for a reward?

[alwaysfrantic]

I'm not sure the SS number scenario is quite the same but I think you are probably correct in terms of numbers of drinks consumed. If drinks were unlimited would they just stop when they had enough and not keep going to use it all up. I think they would.

[TiogaCruiser]

But if they rang the bell or honked the horn, would he have pressed a bar for a reward?

 

Which is preferable to dropping an anchor which some smashed individual did some years back....

[Krazy Kruizers]

I thought something similar to what you are saying when we first heard about the new Signature Drink Package.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

I hope it does not end up like RCL 2 hour open bar for elite