I think everyone knows there is very little chance that you can win the lottery to the point where many people don’t bother. Even for jackpots worth one million dollars it is often not enough to entice certain people. Recently here there were a ton of people I knew who started buying ticks because the jackpot was $68 million or so. These are people who wouldn’t normally try it because of the odds but figured the prize amount is so big they may as well try. The chances are pretty much the same too.
Then I read how there is this Powerball lottery that is apparently reaching one billion dollars and similarly those who don’t normally play the lottery because of the odds seem to be keen in buying a few tickets just in case they win. It’s interesting to think about as the odds are still the same. It does work on me too which makes you think how using big numbers and prizes with very little odds is an effective way to get people to take action.
McDonald’s monopoly is a great example too I think where there are little odds that you will actually collect the top prize pieces but that chance at getting something big can persuade people to dine in with them instead of a competitor. Crazy how something with such a slim chance of winning can get so many of us to spend more huh?