Switching costs are the time, money, or effort it requires to make a change. When we make an initial investment in something, switching costs are hypothetical and in the future, so we tend to underestimate them. It is easy to imagine we’ll just get a new credit card later or break a lease on a long-term rental when the time comes. The problem is when the time does come, the switching costs seem bigger up close than they did from far away.
