Facts about the Sunk Cost Fallacy
- 08
College students assigned to complete a difficult puzzle were more likely to continue attempting it if they had already invested 30 minutes, versus those who started fresh, demonstrating how time investment triggers sunk cost reasoning in the original 1990 Arkes and Blumer study establishing this cognitive bias.
- 07
Restaurant patrons who ordered expensive dishes were significantly more likely to finish them even when they tasted bad, compared to those who received the same dishes free, demonstrating how prior payment triggers the sunk cost fallacy in consumption decisions.
- 06
Psychologist Hal Arkes measured the sunk cost fallacy in 1985 by having participants pay different amounts for concert tickets, then offering free better tickets, finding those who paid more were significantly less likely to switch despite objective superiority.
- 05
A 2012 study of NBA teams found that coaches played underperforming drafted players more minutes to justify the draft pick investment, exemplifying sunk cost fallacy in professional sports roster decisions.
- 04
Military commanders during the Vietnam War continued escalating troop deployments despite mounting evidence of failure, a documented example of sunk cost fallacy in high-stakes decision-making with thousands of lives at stake.
- 03
Throwing good money after bad money, the sunk cost fallacy causes investors to hold losing stocks 22% longer than winners according to Morningstar research on trading behavior.
- 02
In 2003, a study of Broadway shows found that producers were more likely to continue funding productions showing poor advance ticket sales if they had already invested substantial amounts, demonstrating the sunk cost fallacy in real entertainment decisions.
- 01
Economist Richard Thaler's 1980 research demonstrated that people continue investing in failing projects to justify prior expenditures, establishing the sunk cost fallacy as measurable cognitive bias.