Last tended April 12, 2022.
In a study by Daniel Mochon at University of Missouri, participants were split into three groups and asked to purchase DVD players.
Group | Experiment | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Presented a Sony DVD player | 9% interested in purchasing |
2 | Presented a Philips DVD player | 10% interested in purchasing |
3 | Presented both DVD players | 32% chose Sony, 34% chose Philips |
Participants that were presented a second choice were 6.5x more likely to exhibit an intent to buy.
The single-option aversion bias can be overcome by providing a second option which is clearly worse. The presence of the worse option makes it clear that the primary option isn’t as bad, and the audience feels like they have a choice in making the decision.
In addition to single-option aversion, Contrast effect bias and Extreme aversion bias can also influence decision making. As a general rule, present three options when driving consensus
References
Source | Creator |
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Single-Option Aversion (missouri.edu) | @Daniel Mochon, Assistant professor of Marketing at Tulane. |
How the Perfect Number of Choices Can Increase Conversions - Foundr | Foundr |