State the condition before the reward to lift basket size

Commitment Before Awareness

Cialdini's consistency principle shows that people have a strong drive to behave consistently with commitments they have already mentally made. The sequence of a promotional message determines whether commitment is made before or after the customer is aware of what is required.

"Spend £50, get free shipping" - the condition comes first. The customer mentally commits to the idea of spending £50 (especially if they are already considering a purchase) before they consciously evaluate whether £50 is acceptable. By the time the reward is revealed, there is a small but meaningful internal commitment to the condition already in place.

"Free shipping when you spend £50" - the reward comes first. The customer registers the benefit, then evaluates the condition. This order triggers price evaluation before commitment, making it easier to decide the threshold is not worth reaching.

The Practical Application

This is a copy order change, not a design change. Review every promotional message on your store - cart progress bars, cart banners, promotional emails, popups - and check which comes first: condition or reward.

Rewrite them all in condition-first order. "Add £15 more and unlock a free gift" instead of "Free gift when you add £15 more."

Where It Matters Most

The highest-impact location is the cart page or cart drawer, where threshold proximity is most relevant and the customer has the highest intent. A cart progress bar saying "You're £8 away from free shipping" with condition-first framing is the dominant version.

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Research: Cialdini (1984), Influence - commitment and consistency; Nunes, J.C. & Dreze, X. (2006) - the endowed progress effect.