Don’t recommend your most expensive option

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Topic: Pricing | Ecommerce
For: B2C, can be tested for B2B
Research date: July 2026
Universities: Nanyang Technological University, Indiana University Bloomington

📈 Recommendation

Don’t label as “recommended” the most expensive product in your lineup (e.g. a premium package). Instead, recommend a cheaper alternative (e.g. a mid-tier priced one, one you know sells very well). 

People will be much more likely to choose it, increasing your overall sales and likely your profits.

If the most expensive option is the best fit, give an objective reason for why you’re recommending it (e.g. “Our Bestseller” or “XYZ Judge’s Choice”).

🎓 Findings

• As part of a series of 8 experiments with over 6,200 participants, researchers found that:

  • Sales for a recommended drink at a South Korean cafe increased 58% when a more expensive option was also available, while both were equal without the recommendation

  • People were 24% more interested in buying when the recommended option was the cheapest one, and 8% less interested when it was the most expensive one

  • Adding an “Amazon’s choice” label increased people choosing a product by 159% when it was the second-most-expensive option, but by 357% when a competitor’s prices made it the third-cheapest option

🧠 Why it works

• We assume companies are trying to influence us when labelling something as "recommended".

• When they recommend the most expensive option, we assume they're just trying to make more profit and judge them differently.

• If the recommended option is at a lower price, we're more likely to accept the recommendation because we don’t see an ulterior motive.

• This can look like the decoy effect, where adding another option changes what people choose, but differs because adding a more expensive option only helped when the cheaper product was also recommended.

✋ Limitations

• The study looked at items where the price was visible and could be compared (e.g. similar boxes of pasta). It’s likely the effect doesn’t work if there are clear differences between the products (e.g. 1 pasta is organic and 1 is wholewheat). 

• The effect is likely weaker for products where people rely heavily on recommendations (e.g. choosing a hotel for vacation or buying a car).

👀 Real-life example

Bedding and towels brand Cozy Earth highlights certain options to nudge customers towards those items.

❌ Issue: The towels marked as “Selling Fast” are more expensive than the other options.

✅ Solution:

• Recommend a cheaper option with the “Selling Fast” badge instead of the most expensive option.

• Add a badge with details to justify the price difference between the recommended set and other sets (e.g. “Ultra-soft fabric”).

• Highlight features of the towel sets instead of the price, and test showing the price later, after someone clicks on a specific towel set.

• Use rounded prices (e.g. $360 instead of $364), as these work better for items bought for pleasure or luxury, as compared to utility.

📖 Research

Kim, K., & Schrift, R., To Profit or to Assist? How the Interplay Between Product Recommendations and Relative Price Impacts Consumers’ Inferences and Choice. Journal of Consumer Research (July 2026). 

Remember: This is a new scientific discovery. In the future it will probably be better understood and could even be proven wrong (that’s how science works). It may also not be generalizable to your situation. If it’s a risky change, always test it on a small scale before rolling it out widely.

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