During a negotiation, sometimes something amazing happens. 

When one side  presents a number to the other side, that side can all of suddenly end  up irrationally fixating on that first number that was put forth at the bargaining table. This number is called “the anchor”. The other side (or us) can become fixated with it no matter how  outlandish it may be. Even when we know the anchor has limited  relevance, we can sometimes fail to sufficiently adjust our judgments  away from it. This is an example of the anchoring effect in  negotiations. 

Negotiators can use anchoring to reduce risk in a  negotiation.