How does cognitive dissonance influence the sunk cost effect?

Figures & data

Table 1 Mean comparison of willingness to continue investments based on sunk cost levels

Completion ratio	N	Mean	SD	Mean comparison
15%	33	0.27	0.23	F=6.73*
40%	31	0.36	0.17	p=0.00
65%	34	0.45	0.20
90%	30	0.50	0.29
Total	128	0.39	0.23

Note:

* p<0.01.

Abbreviation: SD, standard deviation.

Table 2 Descriptive statistics

Variable	Theoretical score	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	SD
SUNK	0.15–0.9	0.15	0.90	0.52	0.27
DISSONANCE	15–105	22	87	52.67	9.61
WILLINGNESS	0.00–1.00	0.00	1.00	0.39	0.23

Abbreviations: SD, standard deviation; SUNK, sunk costs; DISSONANCE, cognitive dissonance; WILLINGNESS, willingness to continue investments.

Table 3 Pearson correlation

Variable	SUNK	DISSONANCE
SUNK
DISSONANCE	0.11 (0.16)
WILLINGNESS	0.40 (0.00*)	0.09 (0.21)

Note:

* p<0.01.

Abbreviations: SUNK, sunk costs; DISSONANCE, cognitive dissonance; WILLINGNESS, willingness to continue investments.

Table 4 Results of path analysis

Path			Path coefficient	Estimate	z	p-value
Independent variable	Dependent variable
SUNK	→	DISSONANCE	γ11	0.11	1.00	0.16
SUNK	→	WILLINGNESS	γ21	0.41	2.96	0.00*
DISSONANCE	→	WILLINGNESS	β21	0.04	0.45	0.33

Note:

* p<0.01.

Abbreviations: SUNK, sunk costs; DISSONANCE, cognitive dissonance; WILLINGNESS, willingness to continue investments.

Figure 1 The sunk cost effect in high/low cognitive dissonance.

Table 5 Results of regression analyses

Mode	Coefficient	Estimate	SE	t	p-value
Panel A: Full sample
Equation (III)
Intercept	β0	19.58	10.9	1.78	0.11
SUNK	β1	0.35	0.08	4.41	0.00*
DISSONANCE	β2	0.10	0.07	1.43	0.24
R^2=0.12; F=14.82; p=0.00*
Equation (IV)
Intercept	β0	36.61	7.09	5.16	0.00*
SUNK	β1	0.19	0.08	2.41	0.02**
DISSONANCE	β2	0.07	0.06	1.24	0.29
SUNK×DISSONANCE	β3	0.31	0.09	3.47	0.00*
R^2=0.16; F=17.17; p=0.00*
∆R^2=0.04, F for ∆R^2=5.12*
Panel B: High cognitive dissonance
Intercept	β0	29.68	14.5	2.03	0.04**
SUNK	β1	0.43	0.09	4.59	0.00*
R^2=0.11; F=12.02; p=0.00*
Panel C: Low cognitive dissonance
Intercept	β0	14.20	12.1	1.16	0.41
SUNK	β1	0.09	0.10	0.87	0.61
R^2=0.04; F=2.26; p=0.37

Note: Dependent variable: WILLINGNESS;

* p<0.01,

** p<0.05.

Abbreviations: SE, standard error of the mean; SUNK, sunk costs; DISSONANCE, cognitive dissonance; WILLINGNESS, willingness to continue investments.

Figure S1 An example of the experimental scenarios