![]() In Experiments 1, 2, 3, and 6, Soman presented sunk-cost information monetarily in one set of conditions and temporally in another set, and found that monetary costs strongly influenced choice, while temporal costs had no effect. The more thorough study was that of Soman (2001). We know of two studies that have examined temporal costs ( Fantino, Navarro, and Stolarz-Fantino, 2008 Soman, 2001), and neither study demonstrated a positive effect. But does such an effect with time exist? To date, the sunk-cost effect only has been demonstrated when monetary costs are involved. Popular examples are relationships that persist for too long, and people who cling to a belief or attitude long after the point where opposing evidence is overwhelming. In common parlance, “old habits die hard”. Anecdotally, some behaviors do appear to intensify over time, for no clear reason other than the simple passage of time. If the sunk-cost effect occurs with time, then potentially it could affect anything one does. The following sections elaborate on these issues.Īny behavior may be defined in terms of time spent, whether it is waiting in a checkout line, maintaining a friend, a hobby, or holding a belief. ![]() While personal responsibility has received much attention in the “escalation” paradigm, its role in the sunk-cost effect scarcely has been tested and is poorly understood. This paper also explores a potential contributing factor to a sunk-time effect, personal responsibility for the sunk time. The only study in the human literature to thoroughly test for a “sunk-time” effect produced a notable failure ( Soman, 2001). This paper explores the sunk-cost effect in a relatively untapped domain, the temporal domain. Theories handling the effect include the desire to avoid waste ( Arkes & Ayton, 1999), prospect theory ( Whyte, 1986), self-justification ( Staw, 1976), and attempted normative decision-making (implied by Bowen, 1987 Bragger, Bragger, Hantula, & Kirnan, 1998 Goltz, 1999 McCain, 1986 Navarro and Fantino, 2005 2008). The effect may be linear ( Garland, 1990), and the relative size of the sunk cost may matter more than its absolute size ( Garland and Newport, 1991). In the monetary domain, the sunk-cost effect has been revealed by questionnaire experiments ( Arkes and Blumer, 1985 Arkes and Hutzel, 2000 Moon, 2001) a field experiment ( Arkes and Blumer, 1985), and correlational field studies ( Staw and Hoang, 1995). Past studies have indicated that a person’s likelihood of selecting a particular choice option may be proportional to the amount of sunk cost linked to the choice option.
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