The Decoy Effect
The anchoring effect when utilised as a dark pattern is often called the decoy effect. This is where a company that is trying to sell you something presents three options instead of one:
- One obviously inferior cheap version
- One middle mid version
- One slightly more expensive but much better final option.
For instance at the cinema, popcorn is often sold as "Mini for $2, Medium for $4, and MEGA for $4.99." What tends to happen is the customer shies away from the first option as if they are even buying the product they want something worthwhile and not cheap, but the middle option is so close in price to the final option, but the jump in quality being relatively a lot more than the price. So customers tends to go for the final option. You've now gotten a standard customer to choose your most expensive option. i.e. Mini isn't enough, and who would choose medium if the premium is only a dollar more? I'll go with MEGA then!