Around the time I first got an iPhone I decided to splurge for a $25.00 Dictionary app: the American Heritage Dictionary. While it is a reliable dictionary with a handy audio pronunciation feature and cross referencing; it was hardly worth the premium.

Now I also have the free Dictionary.com app. The dictionary is just as good, it has the same pronunciation feature, and better yet, it has a complete thesaurus, something altogether missing in the American Heritage Dictionary.

Yet I find myself using the Heritage. What accounts for the cognitive dissonance?

Perhaps it is what is referred to as the “psychological immune system”, which, in my opinion manifests itself most often as a form of ex-post rationalization. Simply put, when some decision is irreversible, you end up rationalizing it. A 25 dollar app purchase is certainly irreversible, (unless you engage in the arduous process of arguing the app was defective and somehow earn a refund). In order of magnitude, it is 25 times pricier than that of the average paid app, and infinitely more expensive than the free dictionary app that is arguably better. On the other hand a free app is completely reversible; you are no less wealthy after purchasing it, and once you delete it, you can forget the whole thing ever happened.

There might be a lesson here for app developers. Free is not always better. If you make someone pay, they are more likely going to engage in ex-post rationalization, and prefer to use your app due to the “investment they made”. They may exhibit loyalty even in the face of better, free alternatives (as I have).

Free apps are liable to be deleted at the drop of a hat, but who would delete an app that was actually paid for?