An Overview of Status Quo Bias and Its Applications
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54097/hbem.v21i.13609Keywords:
Behavioral economics; status quo bias; investment decisions; consumer loyalty; energy consumption.Abstract
Behavioural economics has highlighted various biases that impact decision-making processes, including the pervasive status quo bias. This paper explores the impact of status quo bias indecision-making and its implications for policy interventions. The first section provides an overview of the status quo bias, its underlying mechanisms, and its prevalence across different domains. The second section investigates the consequences of status quo bias on individual decision-making, such as inertia, suboptimal choices, and resistance to change. Additionally, it discusses how status quo bias can lead to market inefficiencies and hinder social welfare. The third section explores potential policy interventions to mitigate the negative effects of status quo bias, including default options, nudges, and information provision. It also discusses the ethical considerations and potential limitations of these interventions. Understanding the role of status quo bias and its implications is crucial for policymakers and individuals alike, as it can inform the design of interventions that promote better decision-making and improve overall societal outcomes.
Downloads
References
Hosseini, H. (2003). The arrival of behavioral economics: from Michigan, or the Carnegie School in the 1950s and the early 1960s? The Journal of Socioeconomics, 32(4), 391–409.
Burmeister, K., & Schade, C. (2007). Are entrepreneurs’ decisions more biased? An experimental investigation of the susceptibility to status quo bias. Journal of Business Venturing, 22(3), 340–362.
Kempf, A., & Ruenzi, S. (2010). Status quo bias and the number of alternatives: An empirical illustration from the mutual fund industry (Working Paper).
Li, Xiafei, and Xin Zheng. "The Performance of Active Management in Emerging Markets: Evidence from China." Journal of Banking and Finance, vol. 37, no. 12, 2013, pp. 5057-5071.
Noël, J. "Active versus Passive Investing: An Empirical Study." Journal of Asset Management, vol. 18, no. 5, 2017, pp. 327-337.
Roca, M., Hogarth, R. M., & Maule, A. J. (2006). Ambiguity seeking as a result of the status quo bias. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 32(3), 175-194.
Shi, X., Lin, Z., Liu, J., & Hui, Y. K. (2018). Consumer loyalty toward smartphone brands: The determining roles of deliberate inertia and cognitive lock-in. Information & Management, 55(7), 866-876.
Samuelson, W., & Zeckhauser, R. (1988). Status quo bias in decision making. Journal of risk and uncertainty, 1, 7-59.
RYZHKOV, D. (2013). Status Quo Bias as a Determinant of CUstomers’ Retention. Status quo bias as determinant of customers’ retention. Erasmus School of Economics.
Wu, B., & Li, X. (2021). Energy Law under Incredible Shortage: Review from the Perspective of Institutional Structure. Int'l JL Ethics Tech., 72.
Blasch, J., & Daminato, C. (2020). Behavioral anomalies and energy-related individual choices: the role of status-quo bias. The Energy Journal, 41(6).
Gill, C. A., Atlas, S. A., Hardisty, D. J., & Scott, S. P. (2022). Consumer matching costs to context: Status quo bias, temporal framing, and household energy decisions. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 21(5), 1018-1027.
Frederiks, E. R., Stenner, K., & Hobman, E. V. (2015). Household energy use: Applying behavioural economics to understand consumer decision-making and behaviour. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 41, 1385-1394.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.






