Anchoring is a psychological phenomenon where a person's decisions or judgments are influenced by an initial reference point or "anchor". This can happen with both numeric and non-numeric anchors. Anchoring is a type of priming effect and it usually happens without a person's awareness.

Here are some examples of anchoring:

Negotiations
In negotiations anchoring is the tendency to give too much weight to the first number that is presented. For example a negotiator may gain an advantage by making the first offer.
Real estate
The price of the first house a real estate agent shows a buyer can influence the buyer's perception of subsequent houses.
Investing
Analysts may become anchored to the value of an index at a certain level rather than considering historical figures.
Criminal justice
In one experiment judges who rolled a dice that landed on a 9 gave a shoplifter an average sentence of 8 months while judges who rolled a 3 gave a sentence of 5 months.

Anchoring can also be used in marketing and sales to create a sense of urgency and fear of missing out (FOMO). For example a company might introduce a limited-time discount compared to the initial price.