Sellers Charge More Than They'd Pay to Buy What They're Selling

August 19, 2013 HBR's The Daily Stat In an experiment, people who were asked how much they would demand to sell a coffee mug set a price that was 2.2 times greater, on average, than the price other participants said they would pay to buy such a mug, according to a team led by Promothesh Chatterjee of the University of Kansas. Because people ascribe enhanced value to an object that they associate with themselves, they nonconsciously view a sale as a threat. Thus they demand more to give it up than they (or others just like them) would be willing to pay to acquire it, the researchers say. SOURCE: The Endowment Effect as Self-Enhancement in Response to Threat