Information load, escalation of commitment and culture - an experimental study

  • This study analyzes how information influences decision making in escalation of situations. In those situations decision makers follow a losing course of action and invest further resources even when accounting information indicates that the project is performing poorly and should be discontinued. We conducted two experiments with Chinese participants and used a replication of Staw's (1976) often cited case. Our study investigates how different levels of information load influence escalation of commitment of Chinese participants. Contrary to the prior findings in Germany, we find that Chinese decision makers do not escalate when facing different levels of information load. These results, in light of prior studies that find a comparatively strong escalation tendency of Chinese decision makers, are explained along with the limitations and further research. Abstract This study analyzes how information influences decision making in escalation of situations. In those situations decision makers follow a losing course of action and invest further resources even when accounting information indicates that the project is performing poorly and should be discontinued. We conducted two experiments with Chinese participants and used a replication of Staw's (1976) often cited case. Our study investigates how different levels of information load influence escalation of commitment of Chinese participants. Contrary to the prior findings in Germany, we find that Chinese decision makers do not escalate when facing different levels of information load. These results, in light of prior studies that find a comparatively strong escalation tendency of Chinese decision makers, are explained along with limitations and further research.

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Metadaten
Author:Burkhard Pedell, Peter RötzelORCiD, Ravi Seethamraju
URL:https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2017/AccountingIS/Presentations/6/
Parent Title (English):Proceedings of the 23rd Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS)
Document Type:Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Year of Completion:2017
Release Date:2019/12/19
Tag:Information load; culture; escalation of commitment; experiment
GND Keyword:Informationsverhalten; Eskalation; China
Issue:6
Urheberrecht:1
research focus :Wissensmanagement und Strukturwandel / Business Transformation and Innovation Management
Licence (German):Creative Commons - CC BY-NC-ND - Namensnennung - Nicht kommerziell - Keine Bearbeitungen 4.0 International
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