When past investments trap users in continuing an experience
Core Idea: The Sunk Cost Prison occurs when users continue an activity they no longer enjoy because abandoning it would mean accepting the "loss" of their previous time and resource investments.
Key Elements
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Psychological Mechanism:
- Based on the sunk cost fallacy (irrational consideration of unrecoverable past costs)
- Creates an escalating commitment trap
- Generates internal justification to avoid acknowledging wasted effort
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Common Manifestations:
- Continuing games that are no longer enjoyable
- Staying in failing projects because of time already invested
- Finishing books/shows that aren't engaging because you've "already started"
- Holding onto declining investments to avoid realizing losses
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Design Implementation:
- Create visible accumulation of achievements, status, and resources
- Ensure users are aware of what they're accumulating
- Make it clear these accumulations would be lost upon departure
- Design systems where further investment increases the potential loss
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Design Considerations:
- Powerful for retention but can create negative user experiences
- Most ethical when the experience remains valuable and enjoyable
- Can lead to resentment if users feel manipulated or trapped
- Most effective when the "prison" is proportional (15-30% of user's investment)
Additional Connections
- Broader Context: Core Drive 8 - Loss and Avoidance (the primary principle at work)
- Applications: Endgame Phase Retention Strategies (how to implement ethically)
- See Also: Sunk Cost Fallacy (the cognitive bias underpinning this technique)
References
- Yu-kai Chou, Actionable Gamification
- Daniel Kahneman's research on loss aversion and decision-making
#gamification #psychology #retention #cognitive-bias
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