For most LW readers, it’s usually a bad idea, because many of us obsessively put cognitive effort into unimportant choices like what to order at a hamburger restaurant, and reminders or offers of additional things don’t add any information or change our modeling of our preferences, so are useless. For some, they may not be aware that fries were not automatic, or may not have considered whether they want fries (at the posted price, or if price is the decider, they can ask), and the reminder adds salience to the question, so they legitimately add fries. Still others feel it as (a light, but real) pressure to fit in or please the cashier by accepting, and accept the add-on out of guilt or whatever.
Some of these reasons are “successes” in terms of mutually-beneficial trade, some are “predatory” in that the vendor makes more money and the customer doesn’t get the value they’d hoped. Many are “irrelevant” in that they waste a small amount of time and change no decisions.
I think your heuristic of “decline all non-solicited offers” is pretty strong, in most aspects of the world.
For most LW readers, it’s usually a bad idea, because many of us obsessively put cognitive effort into unimportant choices like what to order at a hamburger restaurant, and reminders or offers of additional things don’t add any information or change our modeling of our preferences, so are useless. For some, they may not be aware that fries were not automatic, or may not have considered whether they want fries (at the posted price, or if price is the decider, they can ask), and the reminder adds salience to the question, so they legitimately add fries. Still others feel it as (a light, but real) pressure to fit in or please the cashier by accepting, and accept the add-on out of guilt or whatever.
Some of these reasons are “successes” in terms of mutually-beneficial trade, some are “predatory” in that the vendor makes more money and the customer doesn’t get the value they’d hoped. Many are “irrelevant” in that they waste a small amount of time and change no decisions.
I think your heuristic of “decline all non-solicited offers” is pretty strong, in most aspects of the world.