The DOI matches its Crossref record; 26 of the 26 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
When Do Losses Loom Larger than Gains?
Abstract
In defining limits to loss aversion, Novemsky and Kahneman (2005) offer important new data and a needed summary of appropriate ways to think about loss aversion. In this comment to Novemsky and Kahneman's article, the authors consider the new empirical results that involve probabilistic buying and selling, suggesting caution in generalizing the results to nonprobabilistic commerce. The authors expand Novemsky and Kahneman's summary by exploring two critical constructs that help define the boundaries of loss aversion: emotional attachment and cognitive perspective. Emotional attachment alters loss aversion by moderating the degree to which parting with an item involves a loss, whereas shifts in cognitive perspective explain why items typically viewed as a loss are given more or less weight. The goal is to use these constructs to characterize more specifically contexts in which losses loom larger than gains and to suggest specific ways that research into loss aversion could evolve.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“loss aversion appears to increase with affective enrichment of “hedonic” consumer goods (e.g., music CDs versus computer disks) (11) and more generally with emotional attachment (12).”
From Amygdala damage eliminates monetary loss aversion (2010) · cites this paper as [12]
Citations
Cites
Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk
Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979) · Econometrica · doi:10.2307/1914185 · Cited by 48,524
Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk
Kahneman, D. J., & Tversky, A. (1988) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511609220.014 · Cited by 32,720
Loss aversion in riskless choice: A reference-dependent model.
Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1991) · The Quarterly Journal of Economics · doi:10.2307/2937956 · Cited by 6,432
Moffitt, R. (2009) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/aer.99.2.660 · Cited by 4,888
Mental Accounting and Consumer Choice
Thaler, R. (1985) · Marketing Science · doi:10.1287/mksc.4.3.199 · Cited by 4,885
Mental Accounting and Consumer Choice
Thaler, R. H. (2008) · Marketing Science · doi:10.1287/mksc.1070.0330 · Cited by 3,477
Experimental Tests of the Endowment Effect and the Coase Theorem
Kahneman, D., Knetsch, J. L., & Thaler, R. H. (1990) · Journal of Political Economy · doi:10.1086/261737 · Cited by 3,194
Experimental Tests of the Endowment Effect and the Coase Theorem
Kahneman, D. J., Knetsch, J. L., & Thaler, R. H. (2000) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139175197.009 · Cited by 2,870
Measuring utility by a single-response sequential method
Becker, G. M., DeGroot, M. H., & Marschak, J. (1964) · Systems Research and Behavioral Science · doi:10.1002/bs.3830090304 · Cited by 2,720
Consumer Choice between Hedonic and Utilitarian Goods
Dhar, R., & Wertenbroch, K. (2000) · Journal of Marketing Research · doi:10.1509/jmkr.37.1.60.18718 · Cited by 2,239
Self-citation
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- Ariely Dan, 2005, “Price-Sensitive Preferences,”
- LeBoeuf Robyn A., 2004, “Alternating Selves and Conflicting Choices: Identity Salience and Preference Inconsistency,”
- Schwarz Norbert, 2001, Theories of Mood and Cognition: A User's Guidebook, 159
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 201–264 of 264
The Endowment Effect For Experiences
Li, J., & Sood, S. (2014) · ACR North American Advances · Cited by 1
Loss Aversion Distribution: The Science Behind Loss Aversion Exhibited by Sellers of Perishable Good
Koh, D. (2024) · Journal of Behavioral Data Science · doi:10.35566/jbds/koh · Cited by 2
“Ariely, Huber, and Wertenbroch (2005) explored two key constructs, emotional attachment, and cognitive perspective, which defined ‘the boundaries of loss aversion’, while Morewedge and Giblin (2015) provided the explanation of Attribute Sampling Bias, which is a collective explanation of the…”
BackgroundGains–loss asymmetry of jobs, income, and risk-taking behaviors
Nguyen, H., & Slocum, L. A. (2024) · Criminology · doi:10.1111/1745-9125.12389 · Cited by 1
“For example, considerations such as attachment, intentionality, and perspectives have been related to loss aversion associated with the exchange of goods (Ariely et al., 2005; Novemsky & Kahneman, 2005).”
Status quo bias and poaching avoidance in selecting strategic alliance partners
Ratchford, M., Chakravarti, D., & Sinha, A. R. (2025) · Experimental Economics · doi:10.1017/eec.2025.4
“The status quo may also elicit emotional attachment that inhibits change (Ariely et al., 2005), and/or reflect a heuristic inference of ‘goodness’ due to familiarity (Eidelman & Crandall, 2012).”
How Do Counterfactual Reference Prices Stimulate the Selling Willingness for Secondhand Products
Zhang, J., Chen, R., & Xu, X. (2015) · Cited by 1
A note on receptiveness to loss in structured Investment
Lazar, M., Levkowitz, A., Oren, A., & Sonsino, D. (2017) · Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics · doi:10.1016/j.socec.2017.06.004 · Cited by 1
“Endowment effect studies show that the minimal price that owners demand for departing from a possession strongly increases with attachment (Ariely et al., 2005).”
BackgroundAre Family Businesses a Good Environment for Project Management?
Ferrari, F. (2019) · Advances in logistics, operations, and management science book series · doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-9993-7.ch006 · Cited by 1
Do Accounting and Finance Master’s Students Apply Prospect Theory?
Alves, M. T. V. D. (2020) · Revista CEA · doi:10.22430/24223182.1466 · Cited by 2
“Ariely et al., (2005) exploit the constructs of emotional connection and cognitive perspective, which they consider help to define the boundaries of loss aversion.”
BackgroundBehavioural Economics: Application to Quotidian Construction Decisions
Fiolet, J.-C. (2015) · UWSpace (University of Waterloo) · Cited by 1
Consumer Search and Purchase: An Empirical Investigation of Search-Based RetargetingPreprint
Jiang, Z., Chan, T. Y., Che, H., & Wang, Y. (2017) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2897289 · Cited by 1
Huynh, A. N. Q., & Huynh, T. L. D. (2021) · Journal of risk and financial management · doi:10.3390/jrfm14060262 · Cited by 1
“…the degree of loss aversion generally varies (Schmidt and Traub 2002; Vendrik and Woltjer 2007; Tanaka et al. 2010) and it mainly depends on psychological factors and emotion (Ariely et al. 2005; Lerner et al. 2004; De Martino et al. 2010; Novemsky and Kahneman 2005; Sokol-Hessner et al. 2009).”
BackgroundIreland, D. J. (2021) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3891036 · Cited by 2
van Winden, F. A. A. M. (2021) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3777026 · Cited by 1
The impact of motivational and affective context on error-induced learning
Unger, K. (2013) · Publications of the UdS (Saarland University) · doi:10.22028/d291-23358
Biological Urges Against the Reduction of Greenhouse Gasses
Gommer, H., & Basser, G. (2012) · American Journal of Business and Management · doi:10.11634/21682585140357
Lee, T. Y., & Liao, S. (2014) · Developments in marketing science: proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-10873-5_12
Berg, E., & Dahlén, L. (2012) · Lund University Publications Student Papers (Lund University)
Rosenboim, M., & Shavit, T. (2015) · Applied Economics Letters · doi:10.1080/13504851.2015.1029110
“According to Ariely et al. (2005), ‘Money that is held to be spent is perfectly instrumental, making it a utilitarian item’ (p. 137).”
BackgroundDoes ownership duration really matter? – Experimental study
Shavit, T., & Rosenboim, M. (2015) · Applied Economics Letters · doi:10.1080/13504851.2014.997916
“Ariely et al. (2005) observe that, ‘Utilitarian items and attributes are those that are primarily consumed for instrumental purposes’ (p. 137).”
BackgroundMotivation & Loss Aversion in the Health Savings Account Paradigm
Holtje, M., & Wiener, R. L. (2013) · PsycEXTRA Dataset · doi:10.1037/e571212013-390
EVALUATION OF STUDENT'S PREDISPOSITIONS TO DECISION MAKING BIASES
Anghel, F. (2014) · Proceedings of the INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE
Burtch, G., & Pavlou, P. A. (2010) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.1576310
Materialism, conspicuous consumption, and the human nature
En, F. E. (2012)
Is There an Information Endowment Eect
Healy, A. (2007)
High Levels of Uncertainty Exacerbate the Endowment Effect
Rottenstreich, Y., Kunreuther, H. C., Liersch, M. J., Lynch, M., & Gong, M. (2014)
Dutta, S., Mukhopadhyay, J. P., & Pingali, V. (2016) · Studies in Microeconomics · doi:10.1177/2321022215624036
Operational Safety Decision‐making and Economics
Reniers, G., & van Erp, H. R. N. (2016) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781118871546.ch4
Hayes, A. S. (2016) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2842928
허진, Lee, J.-E., & Yongman, K. (2011) · Korean Journal of Sport Science · doi:10.24985/kjss.2011.22.1.1781
Does the Endowment Effect Prevail When Traders Act Strategically?Preprint
Tontrup, S. W. (2017) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2997585
The Idea of Property: A Comparative Review of Recent Empirical Research Methods
Babie, Burdon, da Rimini, F., Metcalf, & Stenseth (2019) · Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies · doi:10.2979/indjglolegstu.26.2.0401
The Role of involvement on performance evaluation using balanced scorecard
Sawatyanont, L. (2009) · Thammasat University Digital Collections · doi:10.14457/tu.the.2009.758
A STUDY OF ENDOWMENT EFFECT IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECT DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Li, K., Ng, Y. H., & Cheung, S. O. (2019) · Proceedings of International Structural Engineering and Construction · doi:10.14455/isec.res.2019.7
Kolotylo, M. (2019) · FIU - Digital Commons (Florida International University) · doi:10.25148/etd.fidc007783
“Varying levels of anchors in pricing and presence of decoys differentially affect consumer choices (Ariely et al., 2005; Heath & Chatterjee, 1995) thus different price anchors as well as the non-existence of an anchor is examined in this study.”
BackgroundReexamination of the “uneven route” account of loss aversion
Sui, X., Huang, Y., Xu, M., Kuang, Y., & Shen, S. (2021) · Journal of Behavioral Decision Making · doi:10.1002/bdm.2240
“The modal preference whereby people typically reject such an offer (Gal, 2006) implies that people behave as if losses loom larger than gains (Ariely et al., 2005; Camerer, 2005; Fox & Poldrack, 2014; Harinck et al., 2007).”
BackgroundRaising risk awareness in infrastructure tenders
van der Meer, J. P. (2021) · doi:10.3990/1.9789036551694
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DECISION-MAKING HEURISTICS AND PERCEIVED QUALITY OF LIFE
Unkic, N., & Okičić, J. (2021) · Eurasian Journal of Business and Management · doi:10.15604/ejbm.2021.09.02.001
Reservation price uncertainty: Loss, virtue, or emotional heterogeneity?
Otto, P. E., & Schmidt, L. (2021) · Journal of Economic Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.joep.2021.102435
Votinov, M., Knyazeva, I., Habel, U., Konrad, K., & Puiu, A. A. (2021) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/c37e4
Are Family Businesses a Good Environment for Project Management?
Ferrari, F. (2021) · IGI Global eBooks · doi:10.4018/978-1-6684-3550-2.ch048
Effect of Momentum on the Equity Returns in Kenya: A Review of Literature
Ndichu, P. K., Mule, R. K., & Nyongesa, D. (2021) · The International Journal of Business & Management · doi:10.24940/theijbm/2021/v9/i10/bm2110-029
Does the Endowment Effect Prevail When Traders Act Strategically?Preprint
Tontrup, S. W. (2018) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3128015
Walasek, L., & Mullett, T. L. (2017) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_2289-1
Walasek, L., & Mullett, T. L. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_2289
Status Quo Bias and Poaching Avoidance in Selecting Strategic Alliance PartnersPreprint
Ratchford, M., Chakravarti, D., & Sinha, A. R. (2013) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2210709
Consumer attitude toward nonconventional breeding
Fischer, A. R. H. (2023) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-90566-4.00014-x
Rook, L., van Dalen, J., & Ketter, W. (2023) · Applied innovation and technology management · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-39707-3_5
New concept for the value function of prospect theory
Sano, K. (2024) · Quantitative Finance and Economics · doi:10.3934/qfe.2024028 · Cited by 2
The Psychological Mechanisms, Influential Factors and Research Prospects of Endowment Effect
高, 静. (2024) · Advances in Psychology · doi:10.12677/ap.2024.1412888
Donanım Etkisi: Eldeki Bir Kuş Daldaki İki Kuştan İyi midir?
BİLİR, H. (2025) · Fiscaoeconomia · doi:10.25295/fsecon.1655221
Would You Like Some Risk with That? Willingness to Pay for the Extended Service Contract Warranty
Loveland, J. M., Loveland, K. E., & Kuang, Y. (2025) · Review of Marketing Science · doi:10.1515/roms-2024-0150
“Consequently, for a hedonic product, consumers should focus more on the emotional bene fi ts of use and ownership, causing them to focus more on protecting the bene fi ts associated with owning a higher value item and avoiding the regret associated with hedonic good failure (Ariely et al. 2005).”
Information integration in perceptual and value-based decisions
Tsetsos, K. (2012) · UCL Discovery (University College London)
Maximizing Wealth and Happiness: Improving Investor Decisions Through Improved Affective Forecasting
Easwar, K. (2011) · The Knowledge Bank (The Ohio State University)
What Is Intrinsic Compliance Motivation?
Feldman, Y. (2025) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009057998.003
The Endowment Effect: Is a Bird in the Hand Worth More than Two in the Bush?
BİLİR, H. (2025) · DergiPark (Istanbul University)
Individualism, Reference-dependent Preferences, and Asset PricingPreprint
Lin, T., & Zhu, Z. (2026) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.6622580
Li, Y., Fang, D., Lou, T., & Jiang, L. (2026) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2026.1808355
“This asymmetry validates the loss aversion principle derived from prospect theory (70, 71).”
Managing a necessary evil: Can payment methods reduce product returns?
Garnefeld, I., Böhm, E., Kessing, K., & Klimke, L. (2026) · Journal of Retailing · doi:10.1016/j.jretai.2026.04.008
Bian, X., & Xu, J. (2026) · Systems Research and Behavioral Science · doi:10.1002/sres.70078
Three Essays Examining the Various Identity Expressive Functions of Brands
Dommer, S. L. (2012) · D-Scholarship@Pitt (University of Pittsburgh)
Metadata
- Authors
- Ariely, D., Huber, J., & Wertenbroch, K.
- Affiliations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Duke University (US)
- INSEAD (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Ariely, Dan
- Huber, Joel
- Wertenbroch, Klaus
- Venue
- Journal of Marketing Research
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2005-05
- Volume
- 42
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 134-138
- ISSN
- 0022-2437 (ISSN-L)
- 1547-7193
- OpenAlex
- W2061239943
- Cited by
- 267
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 14
- FWCI
- 4.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Marketing Research (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Consumer Market Behavior and Pricing
- Keywords
- loss aversion, emotional attachment, cognitive approach, purchase decision, consumer behavior
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
