Converting preference to actual commitment: The role of option presentation order

Marketers often struggle to convert consumer preferences into commitment. Our research identifies a novel factor—option-presentation order—that marketers can leverage to optimize choice sets and increase consumers’ commitment to their chosen option. Across incentive-compatible studies and real-behavior contexts spanning digital and traditional retail, consumers exhibit stronger commitment to their chosen option when they encounter it at the end of, rather than earlier in, a choice set. This effect is driven by perceived effort payoff—the belief that effort spent searching was worthwhile. As such, the effect is attenuated when the effort payoff experience is constrained, such as when all options are presented simultaneously (vs. sequentially) or when consumers rely on secondhand (vs. firsthand) searches. These findings contribute to research on choice architecture, commitment, and curated choice sets by identifying option-presentation order as a lever for bridging the intention–action gap and designing choice environments that strengthen post-choice commitment.