The Peak-End Rule: Why Your Buyers Don't Come Back

People remember how good or bad an experience was based on just two points - the emotional peak and the ending. 

Not the average of every single moment. 

When behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman wanted to learn more about how memories were formed, he started by studying a pretty memorable experience - colonoscopies. 

He asked patients to rate their discomfort live, while they were having their procedure.

Kahneman and his team then asked patients to rate their memory of how painful the procedure was - after the fact. 

When they compared patients’ "remembered pain" with data recorded during the actual procedure, the team found something fascinating. 

People didn't rate their remembered pain as an average of their live pain.

Instead they rated their remembered pain based on two very specific points: 

• The peak

• Their discomfort at the end of the procedure

If one patient had a higher average pain rating while they were undergoing their colonoscopy, their remembered pain wasn’t as bad, as long as the peak and the ends weren’t too high. 

But if another patient had a lower average pain rating during the procedure, their remembered pain was high - if their peaks and ends were intense.

Unsurprisingly, Kahneman named this principle the Peak-End Rule.

And this psychological principle pops up all the time in business. 

For example, I worked with one eat-in restaurant chain to improve their customer experience.

We discovered that a major source of psychological pain for customers was at the end of the meal when they had to clean up. 

Even though customers were trying to be “good” by taking their trays up to the bin and sorting their trash into recycling (plastic, glass, paper, etc.)…

they felt like they were actually “messing up” because the instructions on the recycling bins were complicated and unclear. 

Plus, lots of customers were there with young kids.

The had to try and wrangle toddlers while dealing with a confusing garbage-sorting experience. 

That meant they left the restaurant on an emotional low. 

But a redesign of the garbage and recycling station made the experience clearer, easier, and transformed how these customers felt about their total experience…

All because of the Peak-End Rule.

I see Peak-End at work all the time with my one-on-one clients and Choice Hacking Pro members.

One notable case was when I worked with my client DB.

DB is a solo consultant who helps companies create an onboarding program for new interns and MBA hires. 

Her week-long programs were an easy sell, but her clients weren't renewing their contracts. 

When we dug into DB’s feedback and her program structure, the issue became clear:

Her week of training ended with a painful 4-hour marathon of paperwork, policy reviews, IT work, and admin tasks. 

She thought she was doing a good thing by leaving the boring stuff until the end…

But she was actually creating a terrible “end” of her Peak-End.

So I worked with DB to restructure her program.

New hires now spend their final day of onboarding meeting company leaders at an all-employee mixer (complete with free food and drinks). 

Since implementing the Peak-End Rule in her work, DB’s client renewal rate has nearly doubled.

So if you’re having issues with your customer experience, renewal rates, repurchase, etc., ask yourself: 

How am I managing my buyers’ emotional peaks and endings?

Until next time,
Jen

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