The compromise effect

Also called Good, better, best

Offer three honest options, and the middle one starts to feel like the sensible pick.

Price and package
Win the sale

The idea

Given three options, people lean toward the middle one because it feels like the safe choice. In marketing, it shapes how you build packages, pricing pages and quotes, and which option you place in the middle.

Why it works

Itamar Simonson documented the compromise effect in 1989. A related technique is the decoy: in a classroom test described by Dan Ariely, adding a print only magazine subscription priced the same as print plus web led far more students to choose print plus web.

Research: Simonson 1989

Where to use it

Pricing pages

Build three tiers and put the one that suits most of your buyers in the middle. Give each tier a clear difference, not the same thing with a bigger number.

Starter, Standard and Complete. Not sure? Start with Standard.

Quotes and proposals

Send three options instead of one price, so the question changes from 'yes or no' to 'which one'. Make every option something you would be happy to deliver.

Option A covers the essentials, B adds the finishing touches, and C is the full job.

Sales calls

Walk through the full version first, then the middle one. After hearing everything that's possible, the middle option sounds sensible rather than expensive.

The full version is here if you want it. Most of what you described is covered by the middle option.

Package design

Design the middle package first, around what your typical buyer needs. Then build a lighter version below it and a fuller one above. The top tier must be real and deliverable.

Essentials, Growth and Full Service. Growth is our recommendation if you're just starting out.

Steal these

Fill in the brackets and use them in your next post, ad or email.

[Basic] for [small need]. [Recommended] for [common need]. [Premium] for [the full job].
Option A: [essentials]. Option B: [essentials plus]. Option C: [everything].
Not sure? Start with [middle option]. You can move up or down later.
Recommended: [middle option], because it covers [what they told you].
[Top option] is there if you want [extra]. [Middle option] covers what you asked for.

Before and after

Before

Your quote for the full job is attached.

After

Three options attached: essentials, recommended and the full job. The recommended one covers everything you asked for.

One price invites a yes or no. Three honest options change the question to which one, and the middle option, built around what they asked for, feels like the sensible choice.

Where it backfires

Faking the tiers. A top option nobody could want, a middle labelled 'most popular' when it's not, or a middle that's quietly worse value will backfire and can mislead buyers. Every tier must be real.

Pairs well with

The Von Restorff effectMake the middle tier look different with a border and a 'recommended' badge, so the safe choice is also the easy one to find.

Common questions

Does the most expensive option ever sell?

Yes, and it should be good enough to. Some buyers always want the full version. Build it as a real offer you would be proud to deliver, not a fake anchor.

How far apart should the tiers be?

Far enough that each one feels clearly different, and close enough that stepping up to the middle feels small. Build the middle around what most buyers need, then test the gaps.

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