| Title |
How does cognitive dissonance influence the sunk cost effect?
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Psychology Research and Behavior Management, March 2018
|
| DOI | 10.2147/prbm.s150494 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Shao-Hsi Chung, Kuo-Chih Cheng |
| Abstract |
The sunk cost effect is the scenario when individuals are willing to continue to invest capital in a failing project. The purpose of this study was to explain such irrational behavior by exploring how sunk costs affect individuals' willingness to continue investing in an unfavorable project and to understand the role of cognitive dissonance on the sunk cost effect. This study used an experimental questionnaire survey on managers of firms listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and Over-The-Counter. The empirical results show that cognitive dissonance does not mediate the relationship between sunk costs and willingness to continue an unfavorable investment project. However, cognitive dissonance has a moderating effect, and only when the level of cognitive dissonance is high does the sunk cost have significantly positive impacts on willingness to continue on with an unfavorable investment. This study offers psychological mechanisms to explain the sunk cost effect based on the theory of cognitive dissonance, and it also provides some recommendations for corporate management. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 5 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 1 | 20% |
| Canada | 1 | 20% |
| Unknown | 3 | 60% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 3 | 60% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 20% |
| Scientists | 1 | 20% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 61 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 61 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 10 | 16% |
| Student > Master | 8 | 13% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 5 | 8% |
| Lecturer | 4 | 7% |
| Student > Postgraduate | 4 | 7% |
| Other | 12 | 20% |
| Unknown | 18 | 30% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Business, Management and Accounting | 18 | 30% |
| Psychology | 10 | 16% |
| Social Sciences | 6 | 10% |
| Economics, Econometrics and Finance | 3 | 5% |
| Neuroscience | 2 | 3% |
| Other | 3 | 5% |
| Unknown | 19 | 31% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 21 October 2023.
All research outputs
#8,343,963
of 25,584,565 outputs
Outputs from Psychology Research and Behavior Management
#238
of 778 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#135,153
of 345,373 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Psychology Research and Behavior Management
#10
of 11 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,584,565 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 66th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 778 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 11.3. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 69% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 345,373 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 60% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 11 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 18th percentile – i.e., 18% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.