Do you think consolation prizes based on how far you get in the game are interfering with players’ choices?

I only just realized that players still get a check for getting far in the game. As a broke 25 yr old, many of these checks for endgame are well over double what I’ve ever made in a single year. It got me thinking, if I were on Survivor I’d be playing for second place, third place, etc just as much as I’d be playing for the million (which is priority).

I mean if I knew I had no shot of getting to FTC, I would be shooting for a $70k consolation prize for being 4th/5th place instead of playing too risky of a game at F9 or F10 and only get a like $25k consolation prize.

Idk what the actual cash amounts are for which place you get in the game, but I’m just saying if the difference between “making a move and fumbling” and “staying safe and voting with the flow as long as it’s not me” might actually be the difference of getting an extra $10k in one day.

In the context of Survivor 48: if I know the Strong/Integrity alliance is actually sticking together and won’t budge, I might as well try to get 5th place like Mitch or Kamilla instead of pulling a Chrissy and getting myself voted off earlier with less consolation prize money.

Do you think this affects the players’ decisions in the game, or am I just reading too much into it?