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Preference-based escalation: A new interpretation for the responsibility effect in escalating commitment and entrapment

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  • Schulz-Hardt, Stefan
  • Thurow-Kröning, Birgit
  • Frey, Dieter

Abstract

A prominent finding in escalating commitment and entrapment research is the "responsibility effect": people invest more in a losing course of action or persist with it for longer if they themselves initiated this action (responsibility) as opposed to if it was assigned to them. We argue that this effect is driven by participants' preferences. Responsible participants usually prefer the chosen alternative since they have chosen it themselves. Non-responsible participants, in contrast, represent a mix of persons who either favor or disfavor the chosen alternative. In two experiments, we demonstrate that responsible participants favor the chosen course of action more strongly than non-responsible participants do, that these preferences facilitate reinvestment in and persistence with the chosen course of action, and that responsibility has no effect over and above this effect of preferences. Non-responsible participants preferring the chosen course of action made similar reinvestments and exhibited similar persistence as responsible participants.

Suggested Citation

  • Schulz-Hardt, Stefan & Thurow-Kröning, Birgit & Frey, Dieter, 2009. "Preference-based escalation: A new interpretation for the responsibility effect in escalating commitment and entrapment," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 108(2), pages 175-186, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:108:y:2009:i:2:p:175-186
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Betsch, Tilmann & Haberstroh, Susanne & Glockner, Andreas & Haar, Thomas & Fiedler, Klaus, 2001. "The Effects of Routine Strength on Adaptation and Information Search in Recurrent Decision Making," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 23-53, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sleesman, Dustin J., 2019. "Pushing through the tension while stuck in the mud: Paradox mindset and escalation of commitment," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 83-96.
    2. Peter Gordon Roetzel & Burkhard Pedell & Daniel Groninger, 2020. "Information load in escalation situations: combustive agent or counteractive measure?," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 90(5), pages 757-786, June.
    3. Ferry Koster & Mattijs Lambooij, 2018. "Managing Innovations: A Study of the Implementation of Electronic Medical Records in Dutch Hospitals," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 15(01), pages 1-23, February.
    4. Schultze, Thomas & Schulz-Hardt, Stefan, 2015. "The impact of biased information and corresponding meta-information on escalating commitment," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 108-119.
    5. Rick Hardcopf & Rachna Shah & Suvrat Dhanorkar, 2021. "The Impact of a Spill or Pollution Accident on Firm Environmental Activity: An Empirical Investigation," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(8), pages 2467-2491, August.
    6. William Boulding & Abhijit Guha & Richard Staelin, 2017. "Do We Really Need to Change the Decision Maker? Counterintuitive Escalation of Commitment Results in Real Options Contexts," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(10), pages 3459-3472, October.
    7. Besharat, Ali & Nardini, Gia, 2018. "When indulgence gets the best of you: Unexpected consequences of prepayment," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 321-328.
    8. Martens, Nikolai & Orzen, Henrik, 2021. "Escalating commitment to a failing course of action — A re-examination," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    9. Alex B. Markle & Yuval Rottenstreich, 2018. "Simultaneous Preferences for Hedging and Doubling Down: Focal Prospects, Background Positions, and Nonconsequentialist Conceptualizations of Uncertainty," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(12), pages 5946-5959, December.

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