Volvo as a company car The moment I mentioned the Volvo car before the meeting with the sales representative, my boss was adamant that the car was not acceptable because his brother-in-law had had a bad experience buying one. My boss based his decision on the representativeness and availability heuristics. The most dominant of the present heuristics is representativeness. Representativeness occurs when someone relates a present event to a similar event in our database or human memory. The result is that the decision involving the future event is based on the outcome of the past event. Stereotypes and biases are prevalent outcomes of decision making when representativeness is used. Categorizing and framing current events already stored there can lead to suboptimal results. We use this process daily, usually unconsciously; it is not always the best heuristic on which to base all judgments. The availability heuristic is also evident. My boss based his decision on the unreliability and value of purchasing the Volvo in terms of the first thing that came to mind, his brother-in-law's experience. This is not based on his past experience but on his knowledge of a relative's experience. The availability heuristic helps simplify the process. He did this by applying it to the first thing that came to mind in relation to the topic at hand. The incident that happened with his brother-in-law must have been recent or emotional as he quickly remembered it. This in turn made it easier for him to base the future outcome on the previous outcome. Thus, he has a preconceived idea of ​​the outcome and his decision is biased. Influence I continue to stand by my choice of Volvo based on the research conducted; but now I have to convince my boss to see the value in the decision. However, this decision must be the result of his desire to purchase the cars. I will use attribution theory to finally get Volvo approved by my bosses. The most important path is internal attribution in this process. He needs to see the value of the decision for himself and his company. This is achieved by using external motivations to encourage internal attribution. In the end he will buy the Volvo because he "wants" to buy it. Internal and external attributions are ways we explain a decision.