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Home
UX Glossary
Endowment Effect

🎁

Endowment Effect

People overvalue things that they own.

Featured in 45 UX Bites

Similar psychology:

Hyperbolic Discounting
Fresh Start Effect
Confirmation Bias

Likely impacts:

Churn
Feature Usage
Sharing and Referrals
Perception of Value
Happiness & Enjoyment
Purchases
Last updated: 26/09/2026

How to utilise this in your designs

You could let users view and interact with their own profile on a paid plan, so the endowment effect makes the upgrade feel like something they already have.

Profile edit UI with display name, pronouns, about me fields; purple "Try it out" Nitro button linked to Nitro Preview on right, showing theme options and green "Get Nitro" button.
Example from
Discord logo
Discord

Try showing when users joined as a profile badge, so their account history feels owned, and the endowment effect makes leaving feel like a loss.

Atlas welcome screen with blue gradient background shows user "Peter Ramsey" joined ChatGPT 732 days ago and Atlas 1 minute ago. Buttons: Back, Done.
Example from
ChatGPT logo
ChatGPT

You could ask customers to pick a sticker for their gift wrapping, with a live preview on the box, so the endowment effect kicks in before checkout.

Crumbl Cookies UI on pink background offers gift wrap options with selected messages in black circles: "i love you," "happy birthday!," "thank you," "congrats!," "$1" each.
Example from
Crumbl logo
Crumbl

Try asking new users to select titles during onboarding, then use those picks to frame the library, so the endowment effect makes it feel like theirs.

Book selection interface shows 12 book covers; arrow points to "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck" in Library tab. Text highlights saving summaries to Library page.
Example from
Headway logo
Headway

You could use a loading state to remind users how personalised the experience is, reinforcing the endowment effect before the meditation even starts.

A white card with turquoise graph lines at top, text "Building meditation based on 2 other facts you've shared," black bold highlight on "2 other facts." Teal background.
Example from
Balance logo
Balance

Possible impacts

You could see a decrease in churn, as users who've personalised their account may overvalue it through the endowment effect, and feel reluctant to lose it.

As seen in:
ChatGPT logo
ChatGPT
A profile worth keeping

Users may use features more often, as the endowment effect makes them feel they should make the most of something they already own or pay for.

As seen in:
Discord logo
Discord
Your profile could look like this
Headway logo
Headway
Framing the value of a library

Users might be more likely to share things they've customised or created, as the endowment effect can make them feel proud of something that feels like theirs.

As seen in:
Duolingo logo
Duolingo
Sharing your checkmate
Spotify logo
Spotify
A well-timed nudge

Users may perceive your product as more valuable once they've personalised it, as the endowment effect leads people to overvalue things they feel they own.

As seen in:
Discord logo
Discord
Your profile could look like this
ChatGPT logo
ChatGPT
A profile worth keeping

You might see an increase in user enjoyment, as the endowment effect can make an experience feel more pleasurable when users know it's theirs and personalised.

As seen in:
Sentry logo
Sentry
An interactive hero H1
ConjuGato logo
ConjuGato
Bursting with joy

You could see an increase in purchases, as letting users customise or preview a product before buying may trigger the endowment effect, making it harder to abandon.

As seen in:
Discord logo
Discord
Your profile could look like this
Crumbl logo
Crumbl
Select your own sticker
Peter Ramsey, Built for Mars Founder

Written by Peter Ramsey

Consultant to 100+ companies

Published: 17/08/2023