{"id":1401,"slug":"kahneman-knetsch-thaler-1990-endowment-cornell-mug","title":"Kahneman, Knetsch & Thaler (1990), Journal of Political Economy — endowment effect: Cornell mug study showed owners demand more to give up (WTA ~$5.25-$7) than buyers will pay (WTP ~$2.25-$2.87)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","smb-owner","candid-team"],"topics":["behavioral-economics","interactive-tool-mechanisms"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** **Kahneman, Knetsch & Thaler (1990), *Journal of Political Economy*** — the **endowment effect**: owners demand more to give up a good than buyers will pay (**Cornell mug study: WTA ~$5.25-$7 vs. WTP ~$2.25-$2.87**). Mechanism: **loss aversion / psychological ownership**.\n\n**Source:** Kahneman, Knetsch & Thaler (1990), JPE.\n\n**Confidence:** Verified.\n\n**Why this matters for Candid:** Foundation for the IKEA-effect work ([[norton-mochon-ariely-2012-ikea-effect-completion]], [[sarstedt-neubert-barth-2017-ikea-conceptual-replication]]). A user who *configures* a tool feels psychological ownership of the resulting configuration — and values it more than an equivalent non-configured offering.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-interactive-tool-mechanisms-smb-june-2026","title":"Research brief: why interactive tools deepen a business's relationship with its audience — a mechanism-level research package (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"norton-mochon-ariely-2012-ikea-effect-completion","title":"Norton, Mochon & Ariely (2012), Journal of Consumer Psychology — IKEA effect: effort/co-creation raises valuation of the result (\"labor leads to love\") BUT ONLY WHEN TASK IS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"rule-pair-ikea-effect-with-completion","title":"R5 — Pair the IKEA effect with completion: only completed configurations produce psychological ownership; abandoned configurators produce frustration, not love","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-20T18:18:57.571Z","updated_at":"2026-06-20T18:18:57.571Z"}