- Photo
- —
- Name
- —
- Field
- Behavioral economics
- Year
- 1979
- Main topic
- How people actually make risky choices
- Key idea
- We hate losses more than we like equivalent gains, and we’re irrationally weird about probabilities.
- Why it matters
- Frames discounts, fees, and upgrade prompts in terms of perceived loss vs gain — huge for pricing and retention.
- Best for
- Designing plans, paywalls, and nudges that don’t backfire.
- Difficulty
- High — dense, with lots of formalism, but the intuition is gold.
- My take
- If you’ve ever wondered why users rage-quit over a “small” fee, this paper is the scouting report.
- Reading tip
- Read a summary first, then dive into the value function and loss aversion sections with a notebook.
TheLysts
