Losing the Lottery

Associated research group(s): 
eRationality
Researchers: 
Coco Krumme and Dan Ariely

Project abstract:

We are good at imagining what we'd do with an extra million dollars; however, we fare poorly when life presents us with unexpected losses or outflows of cash. By creating a game for consumers to reallocate spending after an "extreme event," we hope to help them to react more rationally to the unexpected. Do people behave differently if the cause of loss is exogenous rather than due to poor planning?