Understanding consumers’ risk attitudes in a financial context takes more than understanding their economic choices. Crystal Reeck and colleagues found that knowing risk attitudes in other spheres of an individual’s life provided a more accurate picture of their risk attitude in an economic context than their self-reported financial risk attitudes.
Getting a better sense of how a consumer views risk in different situations helps with more accurately predicting a consumer’s risk attitudes in an economic context. Those who are trying to understand consumers’ risk attitudes would benefit from applying this research in their work.