ow many of you use an anchor on your pontoon? Do you know about anchors? For example, what style you need, how much weight you should use, or how much rope and chain is needed? And to do it right, do you know the scope?

If you don’t know, don’t feel bad. Typically, we buy the anchor the boat salesman says we need. Surely, they know, right?

I have an anchor stuffed in a front storage area. It has a bunch of rope and bit of chain. Basically, the anchors I know about are the mushroom, Danforth, Navy, and folding grapnel. Oh, and the CQR, whatever that means. I am pretty sure the one I have is called the “Navy” style. I guess it could be a “Union” style or even a “Byers.” Okay, I don’t really know what I’m talking about. Anchors are anchors and I do have one on my pontoon. But the fact is I don’t use it that often.

Every now and then if I beach the pontoon, I have been known to walk up the beach and stick the anchor in the sand to keep me beached on the shore. I have used it a few times when we have decided to stop and enjoy the location. But on our lake that isn’t very often. There are usually too many waves or too much wind and we just float, letting the current or wind take us where it wants.

What I think I want is one of those electric-powered anchors mounted on the front of my pontoon such as the EZ Anchor Puller (www.ezanchorpuller.com). All I need to do is push a button and it drops in the water; flip another switch and it rolls back up to the deck. This could save me the time of coiling the rope and letting it dry before I stuff it back into the compartment. Plus, what if the anchor is covered with mud? Better it is dripping outside the pontoon than stuffed in the compartment stinking up the area under the seat.

Anyway, while I was researching “anchors” and “anchoring” I was surprised to find a bit of marketing/sales information that actually seemed to be suitable for boat owners, especially this time of year when we are traveling to boat shows, looking at new models and pricing replacement boats.

Have you heard of the “anchoring effect?” Sometimes known as the anchoring bias. Simply stated, the anchoring effect is the idea that people tend to unconsciously connect with the first fact or price they hear, basing their decision-making on that one thing.

William Poundstone wrote the book Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (and How to Take Advantage of It). In the book he discusses this idea. The principle just happens to be called “anchoring.”

This is a marketing practice where the sellers promote one high-riced product (the anchor) to make everything else that they sell seem cheaper. Think about a store that sells luxury items. They might have one or two items that are outrageously priced and don’t really sell very often. But the consumer sees that high price and immediately feels that anything else is a “cheaper” deal.

This happens in the boating world. Manufacturers and dealers often show their highest-priced luxury pontoon. It will probably be the pontoon that draws you into the booth or dealership and it’s that pontoon that makes an unconscious connection with you. When you see this fantastic, gorgeous luxurious new pontoon it becomes “your” anchor. The price tag establishes your unconscious base price.

Now that you are “anchored” any other pontoon being sold by that seller seems cheaper by comparison. This helps establish value and the consumer feels the lower-priced pontoon means he’s getting a “better deal.”

I’m not saying this is bad, I’m just saying be aware. It is a simple idea used across all types of businesses. It’s not just boats, but cars, campers, clothing, shoes, and even food.

The thing to think about is as you are shopping for a pontoon (or anything) remember the biggest, fanciest, nicest, and most expensive model you look at first will probably establish what you think is the “anchor” price. Anything else will feel like a deal!