RECENTLY, I bought a brand-new laptop to replace a unit that served me well for an average of eight hours a day for more than six years. Several days before the purchase, I went to two different stores near my residence to canvass the best brand for me. And yet I settled for the same brand and model that I used before — Hewlett-Packard Pavilion.

Why not? The average lifespan of a laptop is said to be between three to five years. That means, I got my money's worth when the old laptop conked out after six years. After transferring my old files to the new unit, I went on to my usual ways relying on the default setting. No changes were made other than creating my Microsoft account.

I'm not motivated to change the default setting because I'm somewhat technically-challenged. I suspect it's easy to do, but somehow, I'm too lazy to do it, even changing the font type default from Calibri 11 to my old favorite Times New Roman 12 of MS Word.

Even when ordering in a Japanese restaurant, I prefer having a bento set over an ala carte. It's easy that way. The same habit for me when I'm in KFC, McDonald's or Jollibee. Menu sets are easy, fast, and sometimes cheap. It's always a welcoming treat for me to choose the standard set option.

Default effect

Generally, the concept of default effect is to influence our tendency to accept whatever product or service being offered to us. It means being pushed to choose only one model or setting that matches the budget or general preference of most customers. Studies have shown that having a default effect increases the likelihood for a product or service to be chosen by customers who don't have much time to overthink about other options.

In the 2008 book "Nudge," co-authors Nobel Peace Prize winner Richard Thaler and lawyer Cass Sunstein explore about the people's tendency to "always go for the path of least resistance when it comes to making decisions." This means making it easy for indecisive and lazy customers to make a favorable decision.

The same principle applies when we're submitting recommendations to top management. We give our bosses several options, but we make sure that our preferred choice would be on top of our list. This requires making our number choice complete with all perceived and unperceived advantages that make other options at a disadvantage.

We make our number choice palatable with all its ornaments in words and in deeds. This is how we manipulate the freedom of choice of customers and our bosses, as well. To do just that, we must be conscious and fully understand a person's bias. This can be done by the following approaches: One, define and understand the goals of a target market.

Two, summarize these goals into a manageable level. Three, research by gathering all relevant information, including their pros and cons. Four, convert all disadvantages into advantages by making the former irrelevant. Five, finalize the proposal into a coherent and attractive format.

Six, test the proposal with the most friendly critical thinker and select target customers. Seven, adjust the proposal, if necessary. Eight, prepare to launch the product.

In general, people challenge your idea with what they know and their experience with similar products. Fortunately, many people don't know what they want. This can be solved by having a default effect in every product or service. It makes it easy for customers to buy what is being offered. Even a customer's inaction can be made into action by telling them what would happen if they don't move as fast as you want them to be.

In my public seminars, one classic example of pushing the customers to buy right away is to offer an early bird rate that must be prepaid at a certain date. If not, the regular price would go up by as much as 30 percent. This alone pushes serious buyers to take the early bird rate being offered.

That's because having that last chance makes people panic which can overwhelm even the most stubborn hagglers in town, unless they're your most loyal customers. If that happens, allow them to win the game at times that could make them indebted to you.

Rey Elbo is a business consultant specializing in human resources and total quality management. Chat with him on Facebook, LinkedIn, X (Twitter) or email elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.com