Asked by c

Emma’s smartphone works perfectly, but all her friends are upgrading to the latest model. She feels her phone is outdated. When her parents offer to buy her a new model for her birthday, she must choose between the gift or adding the money to her college fund. Despite the practicality of saving, she can't resist the temptation to get the latest phone.

Which cognitive bias is likely affecting Emma’s decision-making?

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Two biases are probably at work, but the primary one is social proof/conformity (the bandwagon effect). Emma feels “outdated” because her friends are upgrading, so she’s driven to match them even though her phone works fine. Present bias (immediate gratification/hyperbolic discounting) is also contributing — she prefers the immediate reward of a new phone over the longer‑term benefit of adding to her college fund.