As spending money becomes easier (think of credit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Wallet, among others), we have more opportunities to spend our money well, and to spend it not so well. In collaboration with Qapital, we have made a survey to learn about what kinds of purchases people feel good about, and what kinds they regret. Note that this link and survey is secured by the highest possible internet and bank standards.

Please help us by participating in this short study and reflecting on your past transactions. We will randomly choose some participants to get the chance to have a 30-minute chat with me. You have our immense gratitude.

Click on the following link to begin: https://duke.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_bNNOX3E1I4HLI2h

a research app for smartphone scientists on the go

Social science has uncovered many fascinating aspects of human behavior, from how we think as individuals to how we act in groups. We know that humans are loss averse, emotional, habit-forming creatures. We mispredict the future and misremember the past. And yet, what social science is missing is a better understanding of how these phenomena (and others) change over time, in different cultures and regions, across gender and age.

By collecting a heaping amount of data (and increasing the size of our samples), we hope to unravel nuances in behavioral variations; we hope to detect the impact of minor differences that simply wouldn’t appear in smaller samples. The pursuit of this app is to collect an abundance of data from an abundance of locations all over the world, shining light on behavioral similarities and differences, from Antarctica to Zimbabwe. To do this, we need your help! Join our team of smartphone scientists and take on small tasks that will be “pushed” to you through the app.

On some occasions, you’ll be asked to give your opinion about various topics; you may be asked to predict the outcome of an experiment or to record your thoughts on anything from wealth distribution to peer influence. On other occasions, you’ll be sent out into the world to collect data; you may be asked to interact with a stranger or observe a scene and record certain details. Prepare to be surprised and delighted by the exciting research you will be a part of.

Participate in a movement that transcends oceans and cultural barriers, gaining access to a wider range of information than ever before. Download the app now, and get started on your first mission!

How it Works

1. create an account
2. complete your first mission by following the directions in the app
3. sit back and wait for the next mission to be pushed to you, and make sure to complete it before time runs out!
4. keep track of your missions and your points earned for each task

Get it now for your iPhone and iPad.

In an attempt to make academic research more accessible, each of these reports summarize an academic paper in plain English, and more importantly point to the implications of the findings within the context of a real world problem.

Coming Soon

Back to Top

Links to papers my collaborators and I have written over the years.

Uri Simonson, Niklas Karslsson, George Loewensein and Dan Ariely (2008) “The Tree of Experience In the Forest of Information: Overweighing Experienced Relative to Observed Information”. GAMES and Economic Behavior.

Kristina Shampanier, Nina Mazar and Dan Ariely (2007) “Zero as a Special Price: The True Value of Free Products”. Marketing Science. Vol. 26, No. 6, 742 – 757.

Paul W. Eastwick, Eli J. Finkel, Daniel Mochon, and Dan Ariely (2007) “Selective vs. Unselective Romantic Desire: Not All Reciprocity is Created Equal”. Psychological Science. Vol. 18, Nr. 4, 317 – 319.

Michael Norton, Jeana Frost and Dan Ariely (2007) “Less is More: The Lure of Ambiguity, or Why Familiarity Breeds Contempt”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Vol. 92, 97-105.

On Amir and Dan Ariely (2007) “Decisions by Rules: The Case of Unwillingness to Pay for Beneficial Delays”. Journal of Marketing Research. Vol. XLIV, 142-152.

Leonard Lee, Shane Frederick and Dan Ariely (2006) “Try It, You’ll Like It: The Influence of Expectation, Consumption, and Revelation on Preferences for Beer”. Psychological Science. Vol. 17. (12) 1054-1058.

Steve Hoeffler, Dan Ariely, and Pat West (2006) “Path Dependent Preferences: The Role of Early Experience and Biased Search in Preference Development”. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. Vol. 101, No. 2: p. 215 – 229.

Michael Norton, Samuel Sommers, Evan Apfelbaum, Natassia Pura and Dan Ariely (2006) “Colorblindness and Political Correctness: Playing the Political Correctness Game”. Psychological Science. Psychological Science. 17(11), 949 – 953.

Nina Mazar and Dan Ariely (2006) “Dishonesty in Everyday Life and Its Policy Implications”. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing. Vol 25-1, 117-126.

Gal Zauberman, Kristin Diehl and Dan Ariely (2006) “Hedonic Versus Informational Evaluations: Task Dependent Preferences for Sequences of Outcomes”. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making. Vol 19-3, 191-211.

Leonard Lee and Dan Ariely (2006) “Shopping Goals, Goal Concreteness, and Conditional Promotions”. Journal of Consumer Research. Vol 33, 60-70.

Dan Ariely, George Loewenstein and Drazen Prelec. (2006) “Tom Sawyer and the Construction of Value.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. Vol 60 1-10.

Dan Ariely and George Loewenstein (2006) “The Heat of the Moment: The Effect of Sexual Arousal on Sexual Decision Making”Journal of Behavioral Decision Making. 19 87-98.

Dan Ariely, Axel Ockenfels and Alvin Roth. (2005) “An Experimental Analysis of Ending Rules in Internet Auctions”. The RAND Journal of Economics. Winter (Volume 36-4), 890-907.

Baba Shiv, Ziv Carmon, Dan Ariely (2005) “Placebo Effects of Marketing Actions: Consumers May Get What They Pay For”. Journal of Marketing Research. 42 (4) 383-393.

Dan Ariely, Joel Huber, and Klaus Wertenbroch. (2005) “When Do Losses Loom Larger Than Gains?”. Journal of of Marketing Research. 42 (2) 134-138.

Michael Norton, Joan DiMicco, Ron Caneel, and Dan Ariely (2004) “AntiGroupWare and Second Messenger,” BT Technology Journal, 22 (4) 83-88.

James Heyman and Dan Ariely (2004) “Effort for Payment: A Tale of Two Markets,” Psychological Science, 15 (11) 787-793.—Featured as “Editor’s Choice” in Science (2004), 306, p. 199.

James Heyman, Yesim Orhun and Dan Ariely (2004) “Auction Fever: The Effect of Opponents and Quasi-Endowment on Product Valuations” Journal of Interactive Marketing, 18 (4). 4–21.

Jiwoong Shin and Dan Ariely (2004) “Keeping Doors Open: The Effect of Unavailability on Incentives to Keep Options Viable,” Management Science, 50 (5) 575 – 586.

Dan Ariely, John G. Lynch and Manny Aparicio (2004) “Learning by Collaborative and Individual-Based Recommendation Agents,” Journal of Consumer Psychology, 14 (1&2), 81- 94.

Dan Ariely and Gal Zauberman (2003) “Differential Partitioning of Extended Experiences,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, No. 91, 128-139.

Dan Ariely, George Loewenstein and Drazen Prelec (2003) “Coherent Arbitrariness: Stable Demand Curves Without Stable Preferences,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, No.118 (1), (February), 73-105.

Dan Ariely and Itamar Simonson (2003) “Buying, Bidding, Playing, or Competing? Value Assessment and Decision Dynamics in Online Auctions,”
Journal of Consumer Psychology, No.13, 113-123.

Dan Ariely and Klaus Wertenbroch, Klaus (2002) “Procrastination, Deadlines, and Performance: Self-control by Precommitment,” Psychological Science, No. 13 (3), 219-224.

Joel Huber, Dan Ariely and Greg Fischer (2002) “Expressing Preferences in a Principal-Agent Task: A Comparison of Choice, Rating and Matching,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 87(1), 66-90.

Itzhak Aharon, Nancy Etcoff, Dan Ariely, Chris F. Chabris, Ethan O’Connor and, Hans C. Breiter (2001) “Beautiful Faces Have Variable Reward Value: FMRI and Behavioral evidence,” Neuron, 32, 537-551.

Dan Ariely and Dan Zakay (2001) “A Timely Account of the Role of Duration in Decision Making,” Acta Psychologica, 108 (2), 187-207.

Dan Ariely, (2001) “Seeing Sets: Representation by Statistical Properties,” Psychological Science, 12 (2), 157- 162.

Dan Ariely and George Loewenstein (2000) “When Does Duration Matter in Judgement and Decision Making?,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 129 (4), 508-523.

Dan Ariely, Daniel Kahneman and George Loewenstein (2000) Joint commentary on “When Does Duration Matter in Judgement and Decision Making?,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 129 (4), 524-529.

Dan Ariely (2000) “Controlling the Information Flow: Effects on Consumers’ Decision Making and Preference,” Journal of Consumer Research, 27(2), 233-248.

Dan Ariely and Jonathan Levav (2000) “Sequential Choice in Group Settings: Taking the Road Less Traveled and Less Enjoyed,” Journal of Consumer Research, 27 (3), 279-290.

Ziv Carmon and Dan Ariely (2000) “Focusing on the Forgone: How Value Can Appear So Different to Buyers and Sellers,” Journal of Consumer Research, 27 (3), 360-370.

Dan Ariely, Au Wing-Tung, Randy H. Bender, David V. Budescu, Christine B. Dietz, Hongbin Gu, Tom S. Wallsten and Gal Zauberman (2000) “The Effects of Averaging Subjective Probability Estimates Between and Within Judges,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 6, 130-147.

Dan Ariely and Gal Zauberman (2000) “On the Making of an Experience: The Effects of Breaking and Combining Experiences on Their Overall Evaluation,” Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 13, 219-232.

Dan Ariely and Ziv Carmon (2000) “Gestalt Characteristics of Experiences: The Defining Features of Summarized Events,” Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 13, 191-201.

John G. Lynch and Dan Ariely (2000) “Wine Online: Search Costs Affect Competition on Price, Quality, and Distribution,” Marketing Science, 19 (1), 83-103.

Greg Fischer, Ziv Carmon, Dan Ariely and Gal Zauberman (1999) “Goal-Based Construction of Preferences: Task Goals and the Prominence Effect,” Management Science, 45 (8), 1057-1075.

Constantine Sedikides, Dan Ariely and Nils Olsen (1999) “Contextual and Procedural Determinants of Partner Selection: On Asymmetric Dominance and Prominence,” Social Cognition, 17, 118-139.

Steve Hoeffler and Dan Ariely (1999) “Constructing Stable Preferences: A Look Into Dimensions of Experience and Their Impact on Preference Stability,” Journal of Consumer Psychology, 8 (2), 113-139.

Dan Ariely (1998) “Combining Experiences Over Time: The Effects of Duration, Intensity Changes and On-line Measurements on Retrospective Pain Evaluations,” Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 11, 19-45.

Christina Burbeck, Steve Pizer, Brian Morse Ariely, Dan, Gal Zauberman and Jannick P. Rolland (1996) “Linking Object Boundaries at Scale: A Common Mechanism for Size and Shape Judgments,” Vision Research, 36 (3), 361-372.

Jonathan A. Marshall, Christina Burbeck, Dan Ariely, Jannick P. Rolland and Kevin E. Martin and (1996) “Occlusion Edge Blur: A Cue to Relative Visual Depth,” Journal of the Optical Society of America: A, 13 (4), 681-688.

Reuven Dar, Dan Ariely and Hanan Frenk, (1995) “The Effect of Past-Injury on Pain Threshold and Tolerance,” Pain, 60, 189-193.

Dan Ariely and S. Tom Wallsten (1995) “Seeking Subjective Dominance in Multidimensional Space: An Explanation of the Asymmetric Dominance Effect,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 63 (3), 223-232.

Jannick P. Rolland, Dan Ariely and William Gibson (1994) “Towards Quantifying Depth and Size Perception in Virtual Environments,” Presence, 4, 24-49.

 

Back to Top