Precomitting Increases Donations
The results show that donors were more likely to increase their donation amount when they were committing to increasing their donation at a future time.
Background
The commitment bias describes how people and groups are willing to support their past ideas and decisions – even when new evidence or events makes doing so irrational. This bias is also known as escalation of commitment or the sunk cost fallacy. It was initially described by Barry M. Staw in his 1976 paper, “Knee deep in the big muddy: A study of escalating commitment to a chosen course of action”.
The commitment bias explains that we tend towards being consistent with our prior commitments, actions, thoughts and dispositions, even when it is against our own interests.
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