We call Reciprocity the glue that binds us as a society.

No surprise then that it’s a powerful tool to help people make decisions that are both pro-social and a win-win.

When the Behavioural Insights Team were asked by the UK Government to increase the rates of job-seekers turning up to interviews, they applied the principle of Reciprocity to boost rates.

They changed the text message being sent out from:



“You’ve been booked an interview at Tesco on Friday at 10am”

to:

“Dave,
‍

I’ve booked you an interview at Tesco on Friday at 10am. 


Good luck. 


Roxy”

This shift from a passive tone of voice to an active tone, where Roxy had done something kind for you (and you then wanted to reciprocate by turning up), increased attendance from 10% up to a whopping 27%.

We call Reciprocity the glue that binds us as a society.

No surprise then that it’s a powerful tool to help people make decisions that are both pro-social and a win-win.

When the Behavioural Insights Team were asked by the UK Government to increase the rates of job-seekers turning up to interviews, they applied the principle of Reciprocity to boost rates.

They changed the text message being sent out from:



“You’ve been booked an interview at Tesco on Friday at 10am”

to:

“Dave,
‍

I’ve booked you an interview at Tesco on Friday at 10am. 


Good luck. 


Roxy”

This shift from a passive tone of voice to an active tone, where Roxy had done something kind for you (and you then wanted to reciprocate by turning up), increased attendance from 10% up to a whopping 27%.

407 pedestrians in Brittany, France were approached by a young woman and asked to complete a survey. Before the request, half were offered candy and the other half were not.

The results found that people - especially women - were far more likely to reciprocate and answer the survey after receiving a gift than when not.

Act first.‍

Find ways to initiate reciprocity with consumers.  Merely asking those satisfied to go tell their friends will work (Söderlund et al., 2015).

Make it a ‘common habit’.

When we’re told that a behavior is a social norm shared by others, we’re more likely to reciprocate. Households in USA and India consume significantly less electricity when told that their neighbors are consuming less (Sudarshan, 2014). In the long-term, any consistent, successful behaviors will be adopted as the default for others.

Do it in person.

Reciprocation appears to be more powerful when requests from strangers are made face to face rather than online. This is due to the persuasive impact of immediacy that physicality affords, the higher levels of digital suspicion and the sheer number of emails people receive (Meier, 2016).

Did you know of the fascinating study of winners of the popular gameshow The Weakest Link (Raghubir & Valenzuela, 2006)?

Researchers found that contestants randomly assigned to a central position in the semi-circle tv set design were 45% likely to win the show over those positioned at the edges, who were only 10% likely.

Multiple studies have shown a bias like this to prefer central options over ones at the extremes, in what's called "edge aversion".

There are two key mechanics underpinning Centre-Stage:

‍

1. Central gaze:

Eye-tracking research has shown us to have a tendency to give more attention naturally to what is directly in front of our eyes (Atalay, Bodur, and Rasolofoarison, 2012)

‍

2. The "Centre is Best" belief:

Where we feel that options placed in the middle are somehow better or more popular than those that them. This may be driven by how we use cues around group status, authority and attractiveness and how we then map these beliefs onto unrelated items so as to make the 'best' choice.

‍

Certainly, Weakest Link contestants are no less subject to this phenomenon than supermarket shoppers.

One wonders, if the tv set was creatively redesigned so that contestants would be stacked vertically, how their odds of winning might be a little better if they were up top, seen as gods looking down on the rest.

Did you know of the fascinating study of winners of the popular gameshow The Weakest Link (Raghubir & Valenzuela, 2006)?

Researchers found that contestants randomly assigned to a central position in the semi-circle tv set design were 45% likely to win the show over those positioned at the edges, who were only 10% likely.

Multiple studies have shown a bias like this to prefer central options over ones at the extremes, in what's called "edge aversion".

There are two key mechanics underpinning Centre-Stage:

‍

1. Central gaze:

Eye-tracking research has shown us to have a tendency to give more attention naturally to what is directly in front of our eyes (Atalay, Bodur, and Rasolofoarison, 2012)

‍

2. The "Centre is Best" belief:

Where we feel that options placed in the middle are somehow better or more popular than those that them. This may be driven by how we use cues around group status, authority and attractiveness and how we then map these beliefs onto unrelated items so as to make the 'best' choice.

‍

Certainly, Weakest Link contestants are no less subject to this phenomenon than supermarket shoppers.

One wonders, if the tv set was creatively redesigned so that contestants would be stacked vertically, how their odds of winning might be a little better if they were up top, seen as gods looking down on the rest.

155 people were shown a cocktail menu, with 5 options listed either vertically or horizontally. They were then asked which drink they'd prefer.

In great contrast with those with a vertical menu, those with the horizontal menu were far more likely to choose a drink in its centre (26.5%) than at its edges (10%).

Put what's 'best' in the centre

Whether it's a product on a shelf, a panelist on a tv show or a set of cocktails in a menu, what's horizontally surrounded by its peers is seen as most popular.

Those unfortunate enough to be placed at the edge are therefore seen as less attractive or riskier, unless actively stated otherwise (e.g. "Market Leader" / "most popular").

If you're designing for 1) new customers with limited knowledge or 2) for a range of products that don't vary too much from one another, reduce cognitive fatigue by presenting a small set of choices horizontally, helping them towards the middle option.

Consider adding in some Social Proof to boost effectiveness and guidance.

Orientation is everything

So, as a general rule, for horizontal lists, we'll more likely choose the middle option given its perceived popularity.

However, for a vertical list of options, the opposite is true: the first and last items are seen as more influential and are more likely to be chosen (See Serial Position Effect).

Put simply, we have an in-built judgement of good as up and bad as down and that, when it comes to making a choice, the higher, the better, quite frankly!

In both an online and physical context, orientation and order matter greatly.

In what orientation order are you currently presenting options to people?

Can this be improved by changing the orientation in some cases?

Use to nudge better choices

A recent project by Behavioural Insights Team and Nesta utilised Centre-Stage Effect to nudge smaller portion sizes by 22%.

Another study (Keller et al, 2015) showed that as well as portion sizes, Centre-Stage can, amongst other things, be used to nudge healthier product choices. Healthier choices increased from 13.3% to 36.7% by placing them centrally.

What better choices do you want to help people make? Presented horizontally, put these in the middle to increase their selection.

The gift-buyer booster

It was also found that the Centre-Stage Effect is stronger when consumers are making purchase decisions for others (e.g. buying a gift, or food for a dinner you’re hosting).

Are any products you're selling predominately bought as gifts? What orientation are you presenting them in? Help people choose the 'most gifted' product by placing it centrally in a horizontal set.

468 people were randomly assigned to one of ten groups and shown a website list of ten hotels, each with the hotels in a different order. They were then asked to choose one.

Regardless of their group, more people chose hotels placed at the start and end of the list.

Position matters.

‍Why? Initial options are prioritized in our memory (Primacy effect). Then, we see a pattern, switch off in the middle and only at the end do latter options held in short term memory (Recency Effect) influence the decisions we make, so put your best stuff at each end.

End on a high.

‍Advertisers promoting benefits of their product should combine recency with the Peak-End Rule, finishing with a significant or unique feature to enhance recall, conversion and seal the deal with a positive Surprise.

Order = opportunity.

‍For ecommerce or aggregation sites, consider monetizing product positioning for the start and (paradoxically) end of your lists. Alternatively, design for and highlight conversion fairness with random ordering.