This has to do with our incredibly strong tendency to avoid losses wherever possible. But when they reduced both prices by one cent, making the cost of the truffle $0.25, but the cost of the Hershey’s kisses $0.00 (=free), 90% decided to go for the Hershey’s kisses, even though the difference in price was the same. When Dan did a study offering people to buy a Lindt truffle for $0.26 or a Hershey’s kiss for $0.01, the groups were split evenly (40% for each of the chocolates, with 20% of people buying nothing). However, the difference between $0 and even just $0.01 is huge. Do you have a box at home with free gifts you’ve collected over the years, that you never use, but still keep? Or do you always go for the “buy one, get one free” deal when it’s offered to you?ĭan Ariely says free is a powerful emotional trigger, but at its core, it’s just another price – the price of zero dollars. When people hear something is free they go insane. Lesson 2: Free is just another kind of price, but a very powerful one. Plus, for the sake of your own happiness, it’s best to try and stop comparing altogether. Offering comparisons means selling, and while experiments like the one above are fun, you shouldn’t abuse this.

Therefore, if you can get people to think you’re hotter than your friend, they might even think you’re the prettiest person in the club! It’s a lot easier to compare the two of you against each other than either one of you against everyone else. People will always compare the two of you against one another. You show up at the club with a friend who looks similar but slightly less attractive. So if you give people options to compare yourself or your products to, which are slightly worse, they’ll pick you more often.

We compare what’s right in front of us, not necessarily what we should think about or look at that might not be around at the time. We’re wired to compare things, and our brains do so in the easiest way possible. However, it costs more than double, $7,000! This makes it a lot easier to pick the first one, doesn’t it?

The first one you saw at the first store, and another one, which has slightly better functionality and looks better. Let’s say you walk down the street and find another store, which has two different models. It’s really tough to say, isn’t it, without having something to compare it against to? The local brick and mortar store around the corner has some, but just one model, and it’s priced at $3,000. Imagine you’re trying to buy a new lawnmower, one of those fancy ones you can sit on and drive around. If you want to save this summary for later, download the free PDF and read it whenever you want.ĭownload PDF Lesson 1: Give others easy comparisons, so they’ll value you more highly.

Dan ariely irrational game