• We overvalue things that are free (2007)
His famous chocolate experiment revealed that, due to our Zero Price Bias, we place far greater value on things that are free over something very cheap.

• We value things more that we’ve helped make (2012)
Dan discovered the famous IKEA Effect, which tells us that when we’ve invested energy into helping make something, we feel a stronger attachment to it and will therefore pay more for it over something very similar that we didn’t make.

• We can design for more ethical behavior (2016)
As Chief Behavioral Officer at Lemonade, an insurance firm, Dan combined our Commitment Bias with his findings on dishonesty, using moral reminders and honesty pledges to increase the number of genuine insurance claims.

“People are willing to work free, and they are willing to work for a reasonable wage; but offer them just a small payment and they will walk away.”

• Even the lazy can reach life goals (2015)
Dan helped to develop Qapital, an app that lets you connect your bank account to reach your financial goals. Make a purchase for $5.70, Qapital charges you $6 and saves the difference for you. A brilliant use of Defaults to avoid the Loss Aversion of intentionally putting money away in a savings pot.

• Tiny commitments can have a big effect (2018)
Found that having people make a pledge to repay a loan within a smaller window of time led them to be more likely to pay off their debt. These results suggest that designing Time-scarce commitments like this are a scalable, cost-effective intervention to help improve people’s lives.

• We overvalue things that are free (2007)
His famous chocolate experiment revealed that, due to our Zero Price Bias, we place far greater value on things that are free over something very cheap.

• We value things more that we’ve helped make (2012)
Dan discovered the famous IKEA Effect, which tells us that when we’ve invested energy into helping make something, we feel a stronger attachment to it and will therefore pay more for it over something very similar that we didn’t make.

• We can design for more ethical behavior (2016)
As Chief Behavioral Officer at Lemonade, an insurance firm, Dan combined our Commitment Bias with his findings on dishonesty, using moral reminders and honesty pledges to increase the number of genuine insurance claims.

“People are willing to work free, and they are willing to work for a reasonable wage; but offer them just a small payment and they will walk away.”

• Even the lazy can reach life goals (2015)
Dan helped to develop Qapital, an app that lets you connect your bank account to reach your financial goals. Make a purchase for $5.70, Qapital charges you $6 and saves the difference for you. A brilliant use of Defaults to avoid the Loss Aversion of intentionally putting money away in a savings pot.

• Tiny commitments can have a big effect (2018)
Found that having people make a pledge to repay a loan within a smaller window of time led them to be more likely to pay off their debt. These results suggest that designing Time-scarce commitments like this are a scalable, cost-effective intervention to help improve people’s lives.

• In the 1950s, Danny was drafted into the Israel Defence Forces in the psychology branch, creating methods to assess recruitment suitability.  

• From the late 60s, he worked with fellow academic and best friend Amos Tversky. 1971-81 were the peak years of research output for the ‘dynamic duo’, including on the Availability and Anchoring shortcuts.

• In ’74, they published the important Judgement Under Uncertainty paper on biases and shortcuts, which started the wave of rational thinking as something unrealistic, impacting psychology, economics and philosophy. 

“Thinking, Fast and Slow is an interesting capstone to his career, but his accomplishments were solidified well in advance of writing it. They’d be just as significant without it.” 

- Steven Pinker on Daniel

• In ’79, Danny and Amos created Prospect Theory - with its “meaningless yet distinctive name” and initial discovery of Loss Aversion.

• In ’81, they created Framing suggesting that choices are merely mental representations open to intepretation and not set in stone. 

• Defined Peak End Rule with the famous colonoscopy study.

• In 2002, won the Nobel Prize for Economics for work with Tversky and later winner Richard Thaler that combined psychology with economics.

• He also furthered and then popularized Dual System Theory (Fast and Slow Thinking) in his best-selling book, Thinking, Fast and Slow in 2011.

• In the 1950s, Danny was drafted into the Israel Defence Forces in the psychology branch, creating methods to assess recruitment suitability.  

• From the late 60s, he worked with fellow academic and best friend Amos Tversky. 1971-81 were the peak years of research output for the ‘dynamic duo’, including on the Availability and Anchoring shortcuts.

• In ’74, they published the important Judgement Under Uncertainty paper on biases and shortcuts, which started the wave of rational thinking as something unrealistic, impacting psychology, economics and philosophy. 

“Thinking, Fast and Slow is an interesting capstone to his career, but his accomplishments were solidified well in advance of writing it. They’d be just as significant without it.” 

- Steven Pinker on Daniel

• In ’79, Danny and Amos created Prospect Theory - with its “meaningless yet distinctive name” and initial discovery of Loss Aversion.

• In ’81, they created Framing suggesting that choices are merely mental representations open to intepretation and not set in stone. 

• Defined Peak End Rule with the famous colonoscopy study.

• In 2002, won the Nobel Prize for Economics for work with Tversky and later winner Richard Thaler that combined psychology with economics.

• He also furthered and then popularized Dual System Theory (Fast and Slow Thinking) in his best-selling book, Thinking, Fast and Slow in 2011.

We call Reciprocity the glue that binds us as a society.

No surprise then that it’s a powerful tool to help people make decisions that are both pro-social and a win-win.

When the Behavioural Insights Team were asked by the UK Government to increase the rates of job-seekers turning up to interviews, they applied the principle of Reciprocity to boost rates.

They changed the text message being sent out from:



“You’ve been booked an interview at Tesco on Friday at 10am”

to:

“Dave,
‍

I’ve booked you an interview at Tesco on Friday at 10am. 


Good luck. 


Roxy”

This shift from a passive tone of voice to an active tone, where Roxy had done something kind for you (and you then wanted to reciprocate by turning up), increased attendance from 10% up to a whopping 27%.

We call Reciprocity the glue that binds us as a society.

No surprise then that it’s a powerful tool to help people make decisions that are both pro-social and a win-win.

When the Behavioural Insights Team were asked by the UK Government to increase the rates of job-seekers turning up to interviews, they applied the principle of Reciprocity to boost rates.

They changed the text message being sent out from:



“You’ve been booked an interview at Tesco on Friday at 10am”

to:

“Dave,
‍

I’ve booked you an interview at Tesco on Friday at 10am. 


Good luck. 


Roxy”

This shift from a passive tone of voice to an active tone, where Roxy had done something kind for you (and you then wanted to reciprocate by turning up), increased attendance from 10% up to a whopping 27%.

407 pedestrians in Brittany, France were approached by a young woman and asked to complete a survey. Before the request, half were offered candy and the other half were not.

The results found that people - especially women - were far more likely to reciprocate and answer the survey after receiving a gift than when not.

Act first.‍

Find ways to initiate reciprocity with consumers.  Merely asking those satisfied to go tell their friends will work (Söderlund et al., 2015).

Make it a ‘common habit’.

When we’re told that a behavior is a social norm shared by others, we’re more likely to reciprocate. Households in USA and India consume significantly less electricity when told that their neighbors are consuming less (Sudarshan, 2014). In the long-term, any consistent, successful behaviors will be adopted as the default for others.

Do it in person.

Reciprocation appears to be more powerful when requests from strangers are made face to face rather than online. This is due to the persuasive impact of immediacy that physicality affords, the higher levels of digital suspicion and the sheer number of emails people receive (Meier, 2016).