Why did people decide to vote NO to AV?

AV was the least attractive form of moving towards more proportional representation. That's why the Conservatives would only agree to AV as an option - They knew it would not be popular. If it had been accepted, we would be stuck with it and unable to bring in something fairer/more representative of the wishes of the people. It is ludicrous that second and third choices should carry the same weight as a first choice in later rounds of vote reallocation.