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The sunk cost effect occurs when a prior investment in one option leads to a continuous investment in that option, despite not being the best decision. The aim of the present paper was to study the role of the sunk cost effect in committed relationships. In Experiment 1, participants (N = 902) were presented with an unhappy relationship scenario in...
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... Methods-wise, Rego et al. (2018) showed that although participants are more likely to stay in an unhealthy relationship when money, but not time, was invested, the effect of sunk time costs was stronger when the outcome was measured on a continuum scale (amount of time willing to invest in an unhappy relationship) rather than as a binary choice (whether or not to invest time). ...
The sunk cost effect is the tendency for an individual’s decision making to be impacted by unrecoverable previous investments of resources. Soman (2001) found that sunk cost effect is weaker for time than for money (Studies 1 and 2) and that the facilitation of money-like accounting strengthens the sunk cost effect for time (Study 5). We conducted a Registered Report of a close, high-powered replication and extension of Soman’s (2001) Studies 1 and 2 and a conceptual replication of his Study 5 with an online sample of US American Amazon Mechanical Turk (N = 821). We found support for differences between sunk money costs and sunk time costs in Study 1 (original: ϕc = .61 [.43, .78]; replication: ϕc = .38 [.31, .45]), yet not in Study 2, in which we found sunk cost effects for both money and time (original: money – ϕc = .32 [.12, .52], time – ϕc = .02 [.00, .18]; replication: money – ϕc = .23 [.14, .33], time – ϕc = .32 [.23, .42]). In Study 5, we found no support for facilitation of money-like accounting as strengthening the sunk time cost effect. Materials, data, and code are available on: https://osf.io/pm264/.
... In the process, sunk costs are costs that have occurred in the past and are no longer relevant in the future but still influence decision-making to continue investing using stock applications [7][8][9]. The impact of perceived need will provide benefits for the basic needs of individual and cultural differences, so everyone needs to get satisfaction from needs fulfilled on contextual events such as problems that must be studied more deeply [10,11]. ...
The presence of a digital stock investment application is an innovation in financial services. Because the implementation of this application is relatively new in Indonesia, service providers need to understand how their consumers behave. Therefore, this study aims to explore inertia, sunk costs, and perceived need that affect the sustainability of using digital stock investment application services and the effect of inertia on perceived need. This study targets 180 stock investment application users using a purposive sampling technique. Questionnaires were distributed online through social media. The Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) statistical technique was used to answer the research hypothesis. The study's results prove that all hypotheses are accepted: sunk cost, inertia, and perceived need have a positive and significant effect on continuance intention, and inertia has a positive and significant effect on perceived need. Finally, the perceived need positively and significantly affects continuing intention to use stock investment applications. This research provides a signal to service providers in developing digital investment application features and services to provide a good investment experience for each of its users
... Methods-wise, Rego et al. (2018) showed that although participants are more likely to stay in an unhealthy relationship when money, but not time, was invested, the effect of sunk time costs was stronger when the outcome was measured on a continuum scale (amount of Sunk cost effects for time versus money: Replication Registered Report of Soman (2001) 8 time willing to invest in an unhappy relationship) rather than as a binary choice (whether or not to invest time). ...
The sunk cost effect is the tendency for an individual's decision-making to be impacted by unrecoverable previous investments of resources. Soman (2001) found that sunk cost effect is weaker for time than for money (Studies 1 and 2) and that the facilitation of money-like accounting strengthens the sunk cost effect for time (Study 5). We conducted a Registered Report of a close, high-powered, replication and extension of Soman (2001)’s Studies 1 and 2 and a conceptual replication of his Study 5 with an online sample of US American Amazon Mechanical Turk (N = 821). We found support for differences between sunk money costs and sunk time costs in Study 1 (original: φc = .61 [.43, .78]; replication: φc = .38 [.31, .45]), yet not in Study 2 in which we found sunk cost effects for both money and time (original: money - φc = .32 [.12, .52], time - φc = .02 [.00, .18]; replication: money - φc = .23 [.14, .33] , time - φc = .32 [.23, .42]). In Study 5, we found no support for facilitation of money-like accounting as strengthening the sunk time cost effect. Materials, data, and code are available on: https://osf.io/pm264/
... Another factor in delaying the breakup was sunk cost bias, defined as when people continue the investment despite unfavourable outcomes due to time, money, or another resource invested. An experimental study on couples confirmed that participants were willing to invest more time in a relationship where more time had already been invested even at an unfavourable outcome (Rego et al., 2016)-WKs illusion of control accounts for the sunk cost bias in their relationship in addition to the time, energy, and compromises made for the relationship. ...
White knights are individuals who enter into romantic relationships with damaged and vulnerable partners, hoping that love will transform their partner’s behaviour or life. Existing literature on white knight is limited to a handful of studies, primarily based on Western population. The present research aimed at developing a substantive theory on white knight syndrome in an Indian setting. The study follows a qualitative paradigm and the research design is grounded theory approach to be specific. Participants for the study were screened using Lamia’s white knight checklist. Data has been collected from eighteen young adults aged 18–25 years through semi-structured interviews. The data was analyzed using Strauss and Corbin grounded theory analysis. The study identified six phases—pre-relationship phase, needs exploration phase, shining white knight phase, drained white knight phase, golden realization phase, and finally delayed breakup. Along with the phases, the study identified factors, characteristics, and types of white knight. The study has implications in the clinical and counselling field in identifying and understanding white knight tendencies. Additionally, the theory is applicable in the Indian setting highlighting the intricate interaction between culture, norms, roles, and the recent social factors.
... The sunk-cost fallacy refers to the tendency to continue the endeavor following an investment of significant yet irreversible resources (Arkes & Blumer, 1985;Staw, 1976). It is a cognitive bias in decision-making whose influence is observed in various domains such as professional sports (Staw & Hoang, 1995), long-term memberships (Dick & Lord, 1998), human relationships (Rego et al., 2018), or animal behavior (Pattison et al., 2012). The fallacy is fundamental in that even objective information or feedback cannot completely eliminate it (Keefer, 2015). ...
The sunk‐cost fallacy is a well‐documented cognitive bias in the decision‐making literature. Although the emerging literature on childhood socioeconomic status suggests that early‐life environments shape individuals' decision strategies and have a long‐lasting impact on their decisions, little is known about the impact of childhood socioeconomic status on the sunk‐cost fallacy. Using two different scenarios and an actual choice task, we provide converging evidence that individuals who grew up in resource‐scarce environments (those with lower childhood socioeconomic status) are reluctant to abandon inferior choices merely because they have already invested substantial resources in them, resulting in the sunk‐cost fallacy. This fallacy occurs because individuals with lower childhood socioeconomic status tend to perceive the loss of their prior investments as more wasteful than those with higher childhood socioeconomic status.
... In relation to age, some previous research has indicated that older adults are less susceptible to the sunk-cost fallacy than younger adults (de Bruin et al., 2014;Strough et al., 2016). However, others have found the opposite (Rego et al., 2016). Baron et al. (1993) found that younger people were likely to commit the sunk-cost fallacy but that the likelihood of committing the fallacy did not differ across ages. ...
A general economic principle is that when evaluating the costs of a decision, sunk costs should not be considered and that the decision-maker should consider only those costs that are incurred as a result of making that decision. However, both anecdotal and empirical evidence has shown that when making decisions, people are influenced by sunk costs, thereby committing the sunk-cost fallacy. A corpus of research has established that this fallacy occurs among different nations and cultures to differing extents or degrees. However, none of the previous research was conducted on Nigerians. This study, therefore, investigates whether Nigerians, too, commit this fallacy and then identifies factors that affect Nigerians’ susceptibility to the fallacy. Employing a binary logit model, it was found that about 49 per cent of the respondents to questions based on a decision-making vignette committed the sunk-cost fallacy. The results also showed that locus of cost responsibility (whether the cost was borne by the decision maker or another person on behalf of the decision maker) and ethnicity (whether the decision maker is Yoruba or not) were significant determinants of susceptibility to sunk-cost fallacy. This suggests that in Nigeria sunk-cost fallacy is intrapersonal and more prevalent among the Yorubas than among the Hausas or the Igbos. Therefore, the sunk-cost fallacy is ubiquitous and more likely in personal decisions than decisions made on behalf of others.
... Važno je naglasiti da je greška uloženih sredstava sveprisutna u životu ljudi, te da se ona ne odnosi samo na novčana ulaganja, već i na ulaganje vremena, truda, kao i emocionalna investiranja u određen interpersonalni odnos (Rego et al., 2018), čak iako pojedinci nekad toga nisu svjesni. Glavni doprinos ovog istraživanja se vidi u tome da je pokazano da na prostorima gdje kultura nije ni pretežno individualistička, ni pretežno kolektivistička (Klarin et al., 2012), žene češće čine grešku uloženih sredstava. ...
The sunk cost fallacy is a form of cognitive bias that emerges when one decides
to continue investing in activities where they have already invested many resources, despite
diminished benefits. Recent findings allude to the fact that certain gender differences appear
susceptible to this bias, that different professions are equally susceptible, and that the con-
tinuation of investment emerges more often if several resources had been previously funded.
This research aimed to investigate which determinants of the sunk cost fallacy are crucial for
students who live in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The sample included 503 students (386 females)
of different academic levels and faculties. Students were given several hypothetical situations
where they could choose either to cease the investment (no-fallacy condition) or to continue the
investment (fallacy condition). Continuation of investment was considered the fallacy-condi-
tion since it emphasized that previously funded resources would not be returned even if they
continued investing. The cessation of investments was considered the no-fallacy condition, as
it suggested that respondents did not dwell on earlier failed investments. Determinants that
were accounted for when studying the presence of the fallacy were students’ gender, academ-
ic level, students’ monthly income, scientific field, and parental education level. A log-linear
analysis indicated that only gender was a statistically significant predictor of susceptibility to
the fallacy: women were more susceptible. An analysis of hypothetical situations showed that
the susceptibility to the fallacy was most prominent when monetary stakes were the largest.
... As a result, and on top of that, there is very little guidance on making and as such end up making sub-optimal choices and decisions. The sunk-cost bias has been identified in a broad variety of realworld settings (see, Roth, Robbert & Straus (2015) for a literature review) ranging from business/investment decisions such as decisions on project completion (Åstebro, Jeffrey & Adomdza, 2007), to more personal, daily life decisions such as deciding on a holiday/ vacation destination (Arkes & Blumer, 1985), attending a sport or cultural event (Gourville & Soman, 1998;Thaler, 1980), a restaurant visit/menu choice (Just & Wansink, 2011), online dating (Coleman, 2009), and staying in a marriage/relationship (Rego, Arantes & Magalhães, 2018). To give a few examples: Åstebro, Jeffrey and Adomdza (2007) demonstrated that a large subgroup of inventors continued to spend money and time on projects after having received highly diagnostic advice to cease their efforts; Just and Wansink (2011) showed that consumers who paid the full price for a buffet consumed more food as compared to consumers who paid only half the price; Coleman (2009) found that people have a greater tendency to continue with an arranged online date when prior investments in arranging that date were closer to a pre-set budget; and Rego et al. (2018) showed that people are more willing to stay in an unhappy marriage if more money and effort has already been invested in that marriage. ...
... The sunk-cost bias has been identified in a broad variety of realworld settings (see, Roth, Robbert & Straus (2015) for a literature review) ranging from business/investment decisions such as decisions on project completion (Åstebro, Jeffrey & Adomdza, 2007), to more personal, daily life decisions such as deciding on a holiday/ vacation destination (Arkes & Blumer, 1985), attending a sport or cultural event (Gourville & Soman, 1998;Thaler, 1980), a restaurant visit/menu choice (Just & Wansink, 2011), online dating (Coleman, 2009), and staying in a marriage/relationship (Rego, Arantes & Magalhães, 2018). To give a few examples: Åstebro, Jeffrey and Adomdza (2007) demonstrated that a large subgroup of inventors continued to spend money and time on projects after having received highly diagnostic advice to cease their efforts; Just and Wansink (2011) showed that consumers who paid the full price for a buffet consumed more food as compared to consumers who paid only half the price; Coleman (2009) found that people have a greater tendency to continue with an arranged online date when prior investments in arranging that date were closer to a pre-set budget; and Rego et al. (2018) showed that people are more willing to stay in an unhappy marriage if more money and effort has already been invested in that marriage. The observation that roughly half of the individuals with ASD are able to make (more or less) independent economic decisions with important impacts for their lives or for the lives of others, in combination with the empirical evidence showing the sunk-cost bias in a broad variety of real-world settings (ranging from smallimpact decisions to large-impact decisions both in personal life as well as in business), shows the importance of studying the sunkcost bias in judgment and decision making by individuals with ASD. ...
This paper measures and compares the sunk-cost bias among autistic adults, and neurotypical controls. Frequent influencing personality traits and task factors affecting the sunk-cost bias such as age, gender, and education level, time spent in the decision task, and the level of sunk cost (e.g., very low, low, moderate, and high), are controlled for in the analysis. Results show that both autistic and neurotypical individuals are subject to the sunk-cost bias, however, with autistic individuals being less affected by this bias. Results also show significant differences among subgroups of autistic and neurotypical individuals, with autistic individuals with more autism traits being less subject to the sunk-cost bias. For individuals with autism, time spent in the decision task is found to be negatively associated to the sunk-cost bias.
... Batık maliyet etkisi gündelik hayatımızda pek çok durumda karşımıza çıkan ve rasyonalite varsayımını ihlal eden seçimler yapmamıza neden olan bir yanlılıktır. Yatırım kararlarımızda (Haller & Schwabe, 2014), açık artırma etkinliklerinde (Foster, 2020), tıbbi tedavi önerilerinde (Braverman & Blumenthal-Barby, 2012), duygusal ilişkilerimizde (Rego, Arantes, & Magalhaes, 2018), şans oyunlarına yönelik tercihlerimizde (Ronayne, Sgroi, & Tıckwell, 2020) kendini gösteren bu yanlılığın farkında olduğumuzdan daha ağır sonuçları doğurabilmesi de olasıdır. Vietnam Savaşı'nın uzaması, Barings Bank'ın Nick Leeson'ın yatırım davranışlarına bağlı olarak batması, üretimden çekilene ka- ...
... Batık maliyet etkisi birçok alanda incelenmiştir. Bunlar arasında kişisel ya da sosyal davranış (Thaler, 1980;Arkes ve Blumer, 1985), klinik karar verme ve sinir bilim (Braverman & Blumenthal-Barby, 2012;Zeng vd., 2013;Haller & Schwabe, 2014;Fujino, ve diğerleri, 2016Fujino, ve diğerleri, (2016) tüketici davranışları (Steinman & Jacobs, 2015), A finans/yatırım/proje kararları (Parayre, 1995;Garland & Conlon, 1998), bilişsel uyumsuzluk/kapasite (Staw, 1976(Staw, 1976; Emich & Pyone, 2018;Haita-Falah, 2017;Chung & Cheng, 2018); sosyal/ikili ilişkiler (Rego, Arantes, & Magalhaes, 2018) sayılabilmektedir. ...
Şartlar değiştiyse kararı değiştirmek gelecekteki faydayı arttırabilir. Ancak insanlar genellikle önceki yaptıkları yatırımlarının, şu andaki kararlarını etkilemelerine izin vermektedir. Bu durum “batık maliyet” olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, “batık maliyet” etkisini açıklamaktır. Araştırma kapsamında, kamu/özel sektörde yönetici olan 294 kişiye kolayda örneklem yoluyla ulaşılmıştır. Katılımcılara, kullanım/karar gelişimine ilişkin varsayımsal 3 senaryo sorulmuştur. Analizlerde ki-kare ve korelasyon analizlerinden yararlanılmıştır. Senaryo 1’de katılımcıların %64’ü rasyonel bir karar vererek daha çok eğleneceklerini düşündükleri Bodrum Tatilini tercih etmiştir. Senaryo 2 ve 3’te katılımcıların batık maliyet etkisinde kaldıkları gözlemlenmiştir. Yüksek yatırım düzeyinde, katılımcıların %91,8’i batık maliyet etkisi altında kalarak projeyi devam ettirirken; düşük yatırım düzeyinde katılımcıların %46’sı yatırımı durdurma kararı vermiştir. Ayrıca batık maliyet etkisinin ortaya çıkmasında “kaynakları israf etmiş olmamak” niyetinin çok etkili olduğu tespit edilmiştir.
