Status Quo Bias
‘A preference for the current state of affairs.’
‘You tried your best and failed miserably. The lesson is, never try!’
(Homer Simpson)
Of course, it may well be that doing nothing is the right decision. For example, if there are guaranteed annuity rates or penalties for transferring, but often it's simply inertia rather than a conscious rational decision.
action
If the client’s best interests aren’t served by maintaining the status quo, here are some techniques you can use:
- The most effective approach is to give people more time to make the decision. Research has shown that people will choose a default option 82% of the time when asked to decide immediately, but only 56% of the time after some delay.
- Narrow the choices. This is allied to ‘paradox of choice’, but the more choice there is the more likely people are to stick with the status quo.