The seats are assigned. People have been standing in line for 15 minutes now. Why on earth would anyone want to stand there, when they could just sit and wait until the line clears?
I understand wanting to get off a plane ASAP, but boarding? You just end up sitting on the plane, waiting for everyone else to get on.
And methods have been worked out to load passengers smoothly and efficiently. Alternate sides, every other row, if I recall correctly, leaves plenty of space and time. But nobody uses this.
It’s a practical, demonstrative example of scarcity. It causes people to act internally rational, even though there are far more efficient methods.
No the most recent conclusion is random works best if the participants are “normal”. Any strategy about this seat or that row first requires trained participants to maximize that effort.