Can you claw your way to success?

An Educator Explains: What is the draw of claw machines? What keeps people going after several failed attempts? Economics teacher Mr Wayne Ko has a theory.

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In 2019, as many as eight ‘claw machine’ arcades popped up. It seems that the Claw Machine Craze is catching on amongst Singaporeans.

What is the draw? A chance to get a prize for a fraction of the retail price – supposedly. But there is a catch (pun not intended): People do not usually get the prize on the first attempt and will keep trying.

What keeps people going after several failed attempts? Sheer determination? Perhaps.

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“A person who commits the sunk cost fallacy persists in his or her attempts to catch the prize to make the previously invested time and money ‘worth it’.”

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Or it could be due to the ‘sunk cost fallacy’, where an individual continues a behaviour or endeavour as a result of previously committed resources, such as time and money. In this case, a person who commits the sunk cost fallacy persists in his or her attempts to catch the prize to make the previously invested time and money “worth it”.

However, the time and money that have been invested is a sunk cost and cannot be recovered. They should not be taken into consideration when deciding whether a person should try again or not. Instead, the person should weigh the benefits and costs of each subsequent attempt in order to decide whether to continue playing.

So now that you know the sunk cost fallacy, learn to let go and don’t get caught up by it!

 

To see how another everyday activity – buying bubble tea – relates to economics, do check out this article. You can also head here to see how Westwood Secondary made economics lessons engaging and meaningful for their students. Otherwise, take a look at this piece from our An Educator Explains series to find out what Mulan has to do with Wonder Woman.