Definition
The tendency to express undue liking for things merely because of familiarity with them.
Classification reasoning
As the definition suggests, this bias leads to an over-reliance on familiar tools and methodologies. The familiarity with tools is due to previous experience in using them which creates a comfort zone leading to a higher tendency to use them.
Example
AWS is arguably the biggest cloud computing service provider at the moment. When setting up a cloud based infrastructure for projects, AWS is the preferred choice for many simple because they are familiar with it. Alternatives such as Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and others could be viable alternatives in many cases.
Impact
People prefer to try and use the same approach and technologies for all situations without rationally considering alternatives.
Debiasing techniques
As in the case of law of the instrument, the approach to debiasing would be to create an alternative list and rank them based on pros and cons. Depending on time constraints, quick proof of concepts can be done to aid in making the final decision.
Related biases
- Functional Fixedness
- Law of the instrument