The Truth About What Customers Want

Chapter 25. People are dumber than robots (lazier, too)

Consider the following scenario: You’ve scored a free ticket to a major football game. At the last minute, though, a sudden snowstorm makes getting to the stadium somewhat dangerous. Would you still go? Now, assume the same game and snowstorm, except this time you paid handsomely for the ticket. Would you head out in the storm in this case?

Analyses of people’s responses to this situation and to other similar puzzles illustrate principles of mental accounting. This process demonstrates that the way we pose a problem (we call this framing) and whether it’s phrased in terms of gains or losses influences our decisions.^[47] In this case, researchers find that people are more likely to risk their ...