What concept does 'heuristic thinking' refer to in this material?

• A. Experience
• B. Market research data
• C. Formal mathematical models
• D. Random guessing

Answer: (A)

Heuristic thinking is about using rules of thumb and quick judgments that come from prior experience to make decisions when information is incomplete or time is tight. In this material, heuristics are portrayed as practical shortcuts built from what you’ve seen and learned through past ventures, cases, and real-world practice, rather than through formal analysis. That’s why experience is the best fit—the idea is that your past encounters give you workable guidance for new situations. Market research data represent collected evidence to analyze, formal mathematical models are explicit computational methods, and random guessing lacks any informed basis. Heuristic thinking sits on leveraging experience to act efficiently and sensibly in the face of uncertainty.