Chung Shao-Hsi, Cheng Kuo-Chih
Department of Business Administration, Meiho University, Pingtung, Taiwan.
Department of Accounting, National Changhua University of Education, Changhua City, Taiwan.
Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2018 Mar 1;11:37-45. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S150494. eCollection 2018.
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.
沉没成本效应是指个体愿意继续在一个失败的项目中投入资金的情况。本研究的目的是通过探究沉没成本如何影响个体继续投资于不利项目的意愿，并理解认知失调在沉没成本效应中的作用，来解释这种非理性行为。
本研究对在台湾证券交易所和柜台买卖中心上市的公司经理进行了实验问卷调查。
实证结果表明，认知失调并未在沉没成本与继续不利投资项目的意愿之间起中介作用。然而，认知失调具有调节作用，只有当认知失调程度较高时，沉没成本才会对继续不利投资的意愿产生显著的正向影响。
本研究基于认知失调理论提供了心理机制来解释沉没成本效应，同时也为企业管理提供了一些建议。
