Tipping Points in Consumer Choice: The Case of Collections

The classic account of escalation of commitment suggests that decision makers have a tendency to become locked into courses of action by throwing good money after bad in dealing with losing projects (Staw, 1976, 1981). Most of the research in this area has focused on its negative consequences, the psychological, organizational and project-related causes of such behaviors, and the procedures to help people avoid the escalation trap (Staw & Ross, 1987). Very little, if any, research has examined the point at which the tendency to escalate is triggered. The present research examines this question in a unique setting of consumer collections. Collection is important to both consumers and marketers, yet we know very little of how consumer decisions about collections occur and why some collection programs are highly successful (e.g. Barbie dolls, baseball cards) whereas others fail. We propose that making a decision to collect (e.g. antiques, books) often originates from consumers escalating their commitment to something they have already had but was not initially intended to collect. Prior research has also suggested that an important explanation of the commitment dilemma is the decision makers’ desire to appear rational in their decisions (Staw, 1981). That is, by committing new and additional resources an individual who has suffered a setback could attempt to “turn the situation around” or to demonstrate the ultimate rationality of his or her original course of action. Relevantly, in the domain of collection, the point at which consumers start to escalate their commitment by actively acquiring more products is usually when maintaining the current possession level becomes difficult to justify. But at what point are individuals likely to experience a lack of justification with their current possessions?