Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
11.2.1.5
Availability Heuristic
Tversky and Kahneman (
1974
) identifi ed the availability heuristic which is used in
probability judgments, such as the estimation of the likelihood of an event's occur-
rence. The estimation is based on the ease with which one can recall examples of the
event, such that when examples are readily recalled with little diffi culty, the likeli-
hood of the event is perceived to be high; accessibility experiences affect subse-
quent judgment (for a review, see Schwarz et al.
2009
). For example, Wanke et al.
(
1997
) found that perceived ease of recall has similar effects to actual ease of recall.
When participants in a study were asked to list one pro or con argument for driving
a BMW, participants generating the pro argument evaluated the brand more favor-
ably since both the task and the actual accessibility of information was easy; those
generating the con argument evaluated the brand less favorably. However, for
participants who were instructed to list ten pro and con arguments, expected and
actual ease of retrieval was low and the enumeration of reasons has little effect on
subsequent evaluations.
In line with the literature that demonstrates the infl uence of the availability heu-
ristic on judgment, Gana et al. (
2010
) found that women who are reminded of their
family history of a certain disease (e.g., breast cancer) are more likely to perceive
themselves as vulnerable to the disease compared to those who are not primed by
family history. Similarly, Katapodi et al. (
2005
) found that people's risk assess-
ments of breast cancer were disproportionately based on experiences with an abnor-
mal breast symptom, experiences with affected family members and friends.
In DTC advertisements, pharmaceutical marketers must be aware of factors that
may elicit use of the availability heuristic. For example, while common questions
directed at consumers such as “why wouldn't you use [so-and-so drug]?” or “why
not ask your doctor about…?” are intended to elicit intentions to seek product ben-
efi t information, they may have inadvertent consequences. That is, consumers may
be readily able to generate one reason against trying the medication or asking the
doctor for further details about risks of taking the medication, and the ease with
which they generate such arguments may lead to greater confi dence in opting
against the medication (non-adherence at the awareness stage)—an impediment to
moving on to the trial and adoption stage.
As another example of the effect of the availability heuristic, research shows
evidence of bias in judgments depending on the order in which product risk and benefi t
information is provided (Bergus et al.
1998
). Although for high-risk medical interven-
tions (e.g., a bypass) people appear not be infl uenced by the order in which such
information is presented, they are indeed infl uenced by the order in low-risk medical
interventions (e.g., take a pill). In a study, Bergus et al. (
2002
) found that participants
evaluating a low-risk therapy (e.g., Aspirin regimen) were affected by order effects,
such that those receiving risks after the benefi ts formed more unfavorable impressions
of the treatment and were less likely to consent. As information that is received recently
is more available in memory (Deese and Kaufman
1957
), risk information that is
provided after the benefi t information is likely to drive consumers' judgments.
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