It is a marketing tactic used to nudge you into purchasing a higher-priced variant of a product or service.The Decoy effect can be applied in recruitment, polls, elections, or anywhere else where there is a choice involved.

The Decoy Effect

<ul><li>The Unattractive Third Option (The Decoy) has no real value in itself and is just placed to sway the decision maker towards the higher-priced option. </li><li>The Decoy's only purpose is to make the expensive option appear like a bargain.</li><li>This has also been widely used in subscription options of magazines and in the high-end diamond market.</li></ul>

The Unattractive Option

Higher levels of testosterone, leading to impulsive behavior, leads to more susceptibility to the Decoy Effect.Intuitive thinkers tend to fall more for it, along with people that join in group decision making.

Emotions in the Decoy effect

Whether you are choosing a pair of sneakers or deciding on an insurance plan, it is always better to keep a watchful eye on the options provided.Learn to fine-tune your judgement to not be distracted by false targets, and misleading options.

Fine-tune your judgement

A well-designed decoy can shift our decision making between two options as much as 40%.For example, we are more likely to buy the large glass of juice at the counter when we have been provided with a choice in which the smaller glass is priced only slightly less. We tend to opt for the bigger glass (even if we don't need more juice) as it looks like a bargain.

The extra-large glass

The Decoy Effect can influence our dating choices, as the person who may not be attractive, can appear handsome to us in the presence of a slightly less attractive friend, as our mind will subconsciously compare the two.Choosing candidates during elections, or during an interview process can also be influenced by the decoy effect.

Dating and Voting

As we head into 2020, we're running the best, most insightful and most essential Worklife stories from 2019. Read all of the year's biggest hits here. When you buy a cup of coffee, you might have noticed that of the three size options - small, medium and large - the medium-sized serving often costs almost as much as the large.

Fine-tune your judgement

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