Feeling that we can cancel whenever we want makes us decide with more confidence.
You're on the fence about signing up for a new streaming service. An email tells you "you're in control," offering to let you cancel whenever you want, and that makes you feel more confident deciding. Perceived control is the way we feel we can influence the outcomes of our own decisions.
Amazon promotes its recurring delivery service "Subscribe & Save" by explicitly telling users "you're in control." They can edit the delivery frequency, save money, skip a shipment, or cancel at any time. Services like Disney+, HBO Max, Netflix, and Spotify offer the same thing: free cancellation at any time, with no long-term contracts.
Offering the option to cancel or return a product at no cost tends to increase the user's sense of control, and that sense reduces the uncertainty that holds back the initial decision to try something new.
Source: Roy, A. & Ortiz, M. (2022). Is it Risky to Subscribe? Perceived Control and Subscription Choice. Psychology & Marketing, 40(2), 365-372.
In markets where distrust of long-term contracts is high, explicitly communicating the freedom to cancel tends to weigh more on the initial decision than the price of the service.
Related concepts