Filtered dossier

loss aversion

  • 10 / 10
  • No visual on file
    Framing Effects Entry #0512

    The reason an investment described as protection sells differently

    The same outlay called an investment invites comparison with alternatives. Called protection, it invites comparison with threats. The arithmetic is identical.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0512

    The label decides the comparison set. An investment competes with alternatives; protection competes with threats.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Persuasion Systems Entry #0257

    Why scarcity works even when the item is not wanted

    Announcing that something is about to become unavailable raises interest in people who had none. The loss being avoided is the option, not the object.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0257

    What is defended is the option, not the object. Removing the possibility of choosing later is what creates the choice now.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Scarcity & Queues Entry #0456

    The reason a countdown works even when repeated

    A deadline that resets every week should stop working and largely does not. The response fires before the scepticism arrives, and the two are not in the same channel.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0456

    Urgency moves the timing, not the preference. Recognising the deadline as artificial arrives after the response has already fired.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Cognitive Bias Entry #0105

    Why a free trial changes what you think a product is worth

    A trial does not demonstrate value so much as transfer ownership. Cancelling afterwards is experienced as giving something up, not as declining to buy.

    Master
    The hidden part #0105

    A trial moves the decision from acquiring to relinquishing. The price stays the same while the question quietly changes.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Framing Effects Entry #0502

    The reason a loss framed as a cost is accepted

    Call it a loss and the person resists. Call it a cost and the same person accepts it as the price of doing business. The amount has not changed; the category has.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0502

    Category assignment alters resistance. The loss and the cost are the same number; the frame decides whether the number is endured or fought.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Framing Effects Entry #0515

    Why a deadline framed as an opportunity underperforms

    Register by Friday to secure your place and register by Friday or lose your place describe one deadline. Only the second one recruits the faster motivational system.

    Master
    The hidden part #0515

    A deadline does not motivate by its date. It motivates by whether the reader believes they currently hold the thing.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Cognitive Bias Entry #0122

    The reason a small loss hurts more than a larger gain pleases

    Outcomes are not evaluated against zero. They are evaluated against a reference point, and the slope below it is steeper than the slope above it.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0122

    Nothing is judged against zero. It is judged against wherever you last stood, and the ground below that point is steeper than the ground above.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Progress Systems Entry #0636

    Why advancement you can lose is guarded harder than advancement you keep

    Status that decays if you stop pulls harder than status you keep permanently. The threat of losing it turns maintenance into constant engagement.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0636

    Status you keep is banked and forgotten. Status that decays is defended — because losing what is yours hurts twice as much as gaining it pleased.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Reward Loops Entry #0615

    Why streak-freeze tokens make you play more, not less

    A token that protects your streak on a day off seems to reduce pressure. It does the opposite: now the streak is an asset you own and dread losing.

    Master
    The hidden part #0615

    Insurance on a streak does not lower the stakes. It confirms you own something — and a loss you own hurts twice as much as the gain did.

    Open file