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Centre-stage effect 0:52
A 52-second explainer of Centre-stage effect, narrated over the same demo you can try yourself.
Try the interactive Centre-stage effect demo
What this video covers
The centre-stage effect is our tendency to favour the option in the middle of a row. Faced with a line of similar choices, people disproportionately pick the central one - partly assuming it's the most popular or the intended default - so position alone, not merit, nudges the decision.
You leaned toward the middle option, didn't you? Shuffle the order and the pull moves with the centre, not with any particular plan - so it's the position doing the work, not the product. That's the centre-stage effect, and it's why pricing pages put their preferred plan in the middle. Arrangement is a quiet thumb on the scale: place options to help people choose well, not just to steer them.
