State lottery games take in about twice as much money if they pay out to the winners in a single lump sum vs. a series of 29 annual payments. Furthermore, the overall odds of winning are not very good: 1 in 259 million for Mega Millions, to quote their website.
However, when the jackpot gets big it creates a sort of gravity, pulling in people that normally do not play and causing regular players to buy even more tickets. Your odds of winning do not change with the jackpot’s total. The more people that buy lottery tickets, the greater your odds are that you will have to split the winnings more ways. However, huge jackpot numbers convince more people to take on the risk, hoping for that single giant jackpot.
Becoming rich is an extremely seductive force that often drives individuals to undertake disproportionally more risk the larger the reward. As is the case with the lottery, the odds do not change based on jackpot size. A prudent person would risk no more on a large jackpot than a small one. The same seductive get-rich forces apply to business decisions, too.
Entrepreneurs blinded by riches often risk much more than they should for a slim chance of success. The savvy entrepreneur objectively analyzes the risk/reward ratio and does not allow himself to be influenced by the emotional impact of larger rewards.
How can you use the lure of big money to improve your sales?
