The compromise effect can be observed in the consumer’s tendency to avoid extreme ends of the available range when making purchasing decisions. In this video, MARKO SARSTEDT investigates the origins of the compromise effect. Describing an experiment that interrogates the effects of a lowering of cognitive capability on purchasing decisions, Sarstedt argues that rather than involving fast or intuitive decision making, the compromise effect is grounded in deliberate and demanding thought processes. The research provides a platform for further work examining the links between other effects (e.g. the attraction effect, the phantom decoy effect) and cognitive depletion.