매몰비용의 질(quality)이 소비자 선택에 미치는 영향

국문 초록 (Abstract)

매몰비용효과에 대한 기존의 연구들은 대부분 매몰비용의 양(amount)이 사람들의 의사결정에 영향을 미친다는 것을 보여주었다. 본 연구는 이를 확장하여, 매몰비용의 질(quality)도 의사결정에 영향을 미치는지를 살펴보았다. 구체적으로, 매몰비용의 양이 같더라도 질이 다르면 매몰비용효과가 달리 나타나는지, 그리고 그러한 효과가 어떤 변수에 의해 조절되는지를 살펴보았다. 이를 위해 총 세 개의 실험연구를 실시하였다. 그 결과, 매몰비용의 질이 높을수록 매몰비용 효과가 커지는 것이 일관되게 나타났다. 그러나 이러한 매몰비용의 질에 따른 효과는 매몰비용에 대한 책임이 존재하지 않을 경우에만 나타났으며 책임이 존재할 경우에는 나타나지 않았다. 또한, 이러한 결과는 매몰비용이 금전적 비용일 경우거나 시간적 비용일 경우에 상관없이 모두 일관되게 나타났다. 끝으로, 이러한 결과는 매몰비용이 이미 발생한 상황에서 목표행동을 중단했을 때에 사람들이 예상하는 후회(anticipated regret)에 의해 매개되는 것으로 밝혀졌다. 이에 대한 이론적, 실무적 시사점이 논의된다.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

A great deal of research on the sunk cost effect has shown that the resource (money, time, and efforts) decision makers are willing to invest to attain a desired outcome tends to increase, as the resource they have already devoted to its attainment increases. However, most of this research concerned the effect of the amount of a sunk cost on decisions. The present research extends this literature by focusing on the effect of the quality of a sunk cost. Specifically, we intend to identify conditions under which the quality of a sunk cost has a significant influence on decision making and the processes by which this influence can occur. In three experiments the quality of a sunk cost was experimentally manipulated (with the amount of the sunk cost being fixed). In addition, individuals` personal responsibility for the sunk cost was varied. Finally, the sunk cost was employed either in terms of money (experiments 2 and 3) or in terms of time (experiment 1). Results from these experiments indicate that the quality of a sunk cost has a significant impact on decisions when individuals do not have a responsibility for the initial decision by which the sunk cost has incurred, but this effect is not evident when individuals do not have the responsibility. Further, this pattern of results generalizes over the type of sunk cost (time vs. money) and over different decision scenarios. Finally, these effects are mediated by the amount of regret that individuals anticipate experiencing should they have decided not to continue their endeavor and consequently have failed to realize a desired outcome. Theoretical and managerial implications of findings are discussed.

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