People are risk-averse when they have something to gain. When people have something to lose, they take more risks. People won’t take a lot of risks when they could win $100…
… but will definitely take more risk when about to lose $100. People are willing to take more risk to minimize the chance of losing it.
This effect is known as the reflection effect and was discovered by Nobel-prize winner Kahneman.
When you want customers to make a risk-averse choice (such as buying from you), test by phrasing your USPs as gains.
When you want customers to make a risk-seeking choice (such as switching to you), phrase your USPs as losses.
Be notified when I publish a new CRO tip:
Each week I share a conversion rate optimization (CRO) tip or insight I love - or just blows my mind. Would you like to share a tip as well? Drop me an email here.
All tips are meant as inspiration and I recommend split-testing them; they might not work for your site' audience. Done&Tested is curated by Gijs Wierda, a freelance CRO specialist.