The research, plainly
Huber, Payne, and Puto discovered asymmetric dominance: introducing an option that's clearly inferior to one alternative (but not the other) shifts choices toward the dominating option. The decoy isn't meant to be chosen — it's meant to make choosing easy.
The receipt: Huber, Payne & Puto, 1982
What it means for events
Confused buyers defer; buyers with an obvious winner decide. Structure your tiers so the option you want chosen visibly dominates a nearby decoy — the comparison does the selling that the features couldn't.
Where to run it
Sponsorship packages
Three tiers where the middle exists to make the flagship look like the obvious call. Watch flagship share climb.
Ticket types
The 'conference only' pass priced near the 'conference + workshop' pass sells workshops without a word of copy.
Program options
When proposing event formats to leadership, the deliberately weaker third option is a decision accelerant.
Seen in the wild
Related concepts
Now use it
Score your own event against principles like this one — or make the whole vocabulary official.
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