Phrase Your USP’s as Gain or Loss, Depending on the Risk

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.

CRO Tip from:

Gijs Wierda

Gijs Wierda

CRO specialist

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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.

Gijs Wierda

Gijs Wierda