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MacDonaldMastersThesis_Final.pdf (730.25 KB)

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Waste Not, Wait a Lot:
The feeling of waste elicits multiple mental accounting strategies in sunk cost decisions

MacDonald, Tyler Fraser
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1586871669415872

Abstract Details

2020, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Psychology.
A sunk cost is a cost that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered (Mankiw, 2018). Previous research has demonstrated that people tend to consume more as sunk costs increase (Arkes & Blumer, 1985; Thaler, 1980, Just & Wansink, 2011). This effect on consumption manifests as greater immediate usage intensity of an already-paid-for product, primarily attributed to a desire not to be (or appear to be) wasteful (Arkes & Blumer, 1985). However, there is reason to believe that sunk costs may not always elicit greater immediate consumption (Ashraf et al., 2010). This research explores contextual factors that reverse the traditional sunk cost effect on consumption and lead to increased saving behaviors rather than increased immediate consumption, while remaining consistent with reducing a feeling of psychological waste.
Duane Wegener (Committee Chair)
Ellen Peters (Committee Member)
Hal Arkes (Committee Member)
Ian Krajbich (Committee Member)
69 p.
Behavioral Psychology; Behavioral Sciences; Psychology
judgment and decision making; sunk cost; consumption; mental accounting; behavioral economics; waste

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • MacDonald, T. F. (2020). Waste Not, Wait a Lot:
The feeling of waste elicits multiple mental accounting strategies in sunk cost decisions [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1586871669415872

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • MacDonald, Tyler. Waste Not, Wait a Lot:
The feeling of waste elicits multiple mental accounting strategies in sunk cost decisions. 2020. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1586871669415872.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • MacDonald, Tyler. "Waste Not, Wait a Lot:
The feeling of waste elicits multiple mental accounting strategies in sunk cost decisions." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1586871669415872

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1586871669415872
460
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.