<p>Probably best considered as an example of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Availability_heuristic" rel="nofollow noreferrer">availability heuristic</a>: people tend to make decisions based on information that is most readily accessible/recent.</p>
<p>In plainer terms, the label is just a reminder.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-02-12T16:44:03.870Z
2023-02-12T16:44:03.870Z
Bryan Krause
<p>Is there a name for the psychological mechanism according to which a person is more likely to act when provided with proof of information they are already convinced about? Information which is often also trivial: e.g., smoking causes cancer. In fact, some studies find that graphical warning labels in cigarette packages affect implicit smoking attitudes (especially among the new smokers). Although comparatively smaller, text labels (compared to no labels) are also shown to have a similar effect.</p>

<cognitive-psychology><bias>
What is the mechanism that makes people more likely to act when provided with proof of non-new (and often trivial) information?
Caserio
# What is the mechanism that makes people more likely to act when provided with proof of non-new (and often trivial) information?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-02-12)

Is there a name for the psychological mechanism according to which a person is more likely to act when provided with proof of information they are already convinced about? Information which is often also trivial: e.g., smoking causes cancer. In fact, some studies find that graphical warning labels in cigarette packages affect implicit smoking attitudes (especially among the new smokers). Although comparatively smaller, text labels (compared to no labels) are also shown to have a similar effect.

**Tags:** cognitive-psychology, bias


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-02-12. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

Probably best considered as an example of the [availability heuristic](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Availability_heuristic): people tend to make decisions based on information that is most readily accessible/recent.

In plainer terms, the label is just a reminder.


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