Journal article
He Loves the One He Has Invested In: The Effects of Mating Cues on Men’s and Women’s Sunk Cost Bias
The Journal of consumer research, Vol.51(6), pp.1098-1119
04/01/2025
DOI: 10.1093/jcr/ucae048
Abstract
The sunk cost bias, that is, people’s suboptimal tendency to continue to pursue previously invested options, has been found in many domains, and various mechanisms have been proposed. The current study offers a novel perspective for understanding sunk cost bias. Drawing on previous findings suggesting that sunk cost bias may be adaptive and promoted by fundamental motives, it is theorized that sunk cost bias may be a goal-oriented behavior in the mating domain and that this bias can extend to consumption domains (e.g., product/service with nonrefundable deposits, lotteries earned through prior effort, loyalty program memberships obtained through previous purchases) when mating cues are salient. One field study and seven experiments (six of which were pre-registered) demonstrated that mating cues strengthen an implemental mindset among men (vs. women). Consequently, men exhibit a stronger sunk cost bias in consumption when mating cues are salient. However, this effect was not found among women due to differences in their mating tactics. In addition, this article distinguishes sunk cost effect from status quo bias and rules out multiple alternative explanations for the results (including affect, overconfidence, the investment-payoff link, persistence, perceived morality, shame, guilt, and disgust associated with abandoning the original option).
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- He Loves the One He Has Invested In: The Effects of Mating Cues on Men’s and Women’s Sunk Cost Bias
- Creators
- Rui ChenHao SunZhaoyang GuoHaipeng Chen - University of Iowa, Marketing
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- The Journal of consumer research, Vol.51(6), pp.1098-1119
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press; CARY
- DOI
- 10.1093/jcr/ucae048
- ISSN
- 0093-5301
- eISSN
- 1537-5277
- Grant note
- National Natural Science Foundation of China: 72072148, 71602168
This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Numbers 72072148 and 71602168). The authors acknowledge the helpful input of the editor, associate editor, and reviewers. Supplementary materials are included in the web appendix accompanying the online version of this article.
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 07/27/2024
- Date published
- 04/01/2025
- Academic Unit
- Marketing
- Record Identifier
- 9984699351502771
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