In behavioral finance, escalation bias causes investors to invest more in money-losing investments for which they feel responsible than they invest in an ongoing successful investment. The popular concept of “averaging down” to reduce the average price paid for the investment may be representative of this bias.

The rational, traditional finance model would expect investors to re-evaluate holdings for potential bad news that they had failed to incorporate into their initial valuation. If the re-evaluation supports the investment, then more could be added. Otherwise, it would be wiser to exit the position and take the loss.