Extremeness Aversion

You're seeing Extremeness Aversion when customers overwhelmingly choose the mid-tier plan in a three-tier pricing structure. The middle option wins not on value but on position. Add a premium tier and the old high tier becomes the new middle — and sales shift.

You're seeing Extremeness Aversion when a team rejects both the bold bet and the conservative play in favour of a lukewarm compromise — not because it's the best strategy, but because it feels less risky than either end.

Use extremeness aversion in pricing by offering three tiers with the target option in the middle. Guard against it in strategy by evaluating bold moves on their own terms, not relative to a range. Sometimes the extreme is exactly right.

Kamprad built IKEA's entire value proposition in the space extremeness aversion creates — the middle ground between luxury furniture and disposable junk. He understood intuitively that most customers avoid extremes and gravitate toward "good enough at a fair price." IKEA's product range, store layout, and pricing all exploit this tendency. Founders can apply this in two ways. First, in pricing and positioning, structure your offering so the option you prefer sits between a stripped-down and a premium version. Second, in strategy, recognise when you're defaulting to the middle out of comfort. Kamprad chose a radical middle position deliberately — don't confuse that with timid centrism born of extremeness aversion.