WIZ EXPERIMENT /// THE STATUS QUO BIAS TEST
The Status Quo Bias Test
> Eight small, reversible decisions.
> Each one: a current arrangement, and an alternative that's plainly better on the merits.
> The switching cost is named. The math is named. The move is reversible.
> Pick: stay or switch.
> Samuelson & Zeckhauser (1988) ran this kind of test and found subjects systematically picked whichever option was framed as “current” — even when the numbers said otherwise. The default got extra weight just for being the default.
> WIZ counts how often you stayed when the math said go.
WIZ note: Pick what you would actually do. Not what would look right. The point is to surface the gap.
8 scenarios · 4–5 minutes · based on Samuelson & Zeckhauser (1988)