Restoring the Truth: Anchoring Effects and Debiasing Interventions on Citizen Satisfaction

Although expectations have emerged as a prominent research theme in public administration, little is known about whether and how expectations affect citizen satisfaction. We investigated the anchoring effects of expectations in shaping citizen satisfaction, utilizing a survey experiment involving 735 Chinese citizens. Specifically, we examined (1) the influence of citizens' normative expectations of what services should be on their satisfaction levels; (2) the anchoring effects that result from numerical anchors on expectations and satisfaction; and (3) the effectiveness of debiasing education in mitigating anchoring effects. The findings reveal a negative correlation between citizens' normative expectations and their satisfaction levels, highlighting the influence of anchoring effects on citizens' expectations and satisfaction. Debiasing education is effective in mitigating anchoring effects on expectations but not on satisfaction. These findings integrated cognitive bias into the expectancy disconfirmation model to a better understanding of citizen satisfaction.