Szu-Chi Huang

How Endowed versus Earned Progress Affects Consumer Goal Commitment and Motivation

Because consumers ask different questions to establish commitment at beginning versus advanced stages of goal pursuit, we propose that progress that they attribute to themselves and to the situation will have a distinctive impact on motivation, depending on their relative position in goal pursuit. When progress on achieving a goal is low, people are concerned about its attainability. Because attributing low progress to self (vs. to the situation) signals a higher difficulty of goal attainment, it leads to lower goal commitment and, subsequently, decreased motivation. Conversely, when progress on achieving the goal is high and attainment of the goal is relatively secured, people are more concerned about the value of the goal. Because attributing a high progress to self (vs. to the situation) signals a greater value of the goal, it should lead to greater goal commitment and, subsequently, higher motivation.

So near and yet so far: the mental representation of goal progress.

In the present article, we explore whether peoples mental representation of progress level can function as a self-regulation mechanism that helps motivate continued effort in the pursuit. We propose that when individuals have just started pursuing a goal and have accumulated only limited progress, they exaggerate the achieved progress level in their mental representation to signal a higher chance of eventual goal attainment and thus elicit greater effort. In contrast, when people have made substantial progress and are approaching the goal attainment, they downplay the achieved progress in their mental representation to create greater perceived discrepancy, hence eliciting greater effort. Empirical evidence from 4 studies supported the hypothesis.

Motivational Consequences of Perceived Velocity in Consumer Goal Pursuit

The authors explore the interplay between consumers’ progress levels toward attaining a goal and the perceived velocity in progressing toward the goal to determine consumers’ motivation for further goal pursuit. The authors propose that when progress toward attaining a goal is low, consumers are primarily concerned about the question “Can I get there?” Thus, a high (vs. low) perceived velocity in progressing suggests greater expectations of goal attainment, resulting in greater motivation for pursuing the goal. However, when consumers have achieved sufficient progress and are approaching the end point, their attainment of the goal is relatively secured, so they become more concerned about the question “When will I get there?” and focus more on whether they are effectively reducing the remaining discrepancy so that they can attain the goal quickly. In this case, a low (vs. high) perceived velocity in progressing elicits greater motivation because it suggests that continued effort is needed to ensure a speedy attainment. Empirical evidence from lab and field experiments supports this hypothesis.

Been There, Done That: The Impact of Effort Investment on Goal Value and Consumer Motivation

In the present article, we propose that consumers’ initial effort investment in pursuing a goal may increase or decrease the value of the goal and the consumer’s subsequent motivation, depending on whether the pursuit of the goal is perceived to be one’s autonomous choice. When consumers perceive that the goal they pursue is adopted through an autonomous choice, the initial effort investment is experienced as reflecting the value of the goal; therefore, greater effort should increase the value of the goal as well as consumers’ subsequent motivation. Conversely, if consumers perceive that the goal has been imposed on them, they experience psychological reactance that is proportional to the amount of effort that they expend in pursuing the goal; thus, they devalue the goal as they invest more effort in its pursuit and show lower subsequent motivation.

All roads lead to Rome: the impact of multiple attainment means on motivation.

Individuals have different concerns before and after they become relatively certain about a goals attainability; hence, we propose that the presence of alternative means of goal attainment will have a distinctive impact on motivation, depending on their stage of goal pursuit. In the initial stage of goal pursuit, people are concerned about whether the goal is attainable. The presence of multiple attainment means (vs. a single means) makes the goal seem more easily attainable and thus leads to greater motivation. Conversely, when people have made substantial progress on the goal and its attainment is relatively secured, they focus more on how they can race to the end and complete the pursuit. At these times, a single means (vs. multiple means) provides a more straightforward action plan and in turn leads to greater motivation. Two field studies and 3 lab experiments support this theorizing.

How winning changes motivation in multiphase competitions.

What drives motivation in multiphase competitions? Adopting a dynamic approach, this research examines how temporary standing—being ahead of (vs. behind) one’s opponent—in a multiphase competition shapes subsequent motivation. Six competitions conducted in the lab and in the field demonstrate that the impact of being ahead on contestants’ motivation depends on when (i.e., in which phase of the competition) contestants learn they are in the lead. In the early phase, contestants are concerned about whether they can win; being ahead increases motivation by making winning seem more attainable. In the later phase, however, contestants are instead driven by how much additional effort they believe they need to invest; being ahead decreases motivation by reducing contestants’ estimate of the remaining effort needed to win. Temporary standing thus has divergent effects on motivation in multiphase competitions, driven by a shift in contestants’ main concern from the early to the later phase and thus the meaning they derive from being ahead of their opponent. By leveraging insights gained from approaching individuals’ self-regulation as a dynamic process, this research advances understanding of how motivation evolves in a unique interdependent self-regulatory context.

Social Information Avoidance: When, Why, and How It Is Costly in Goal Pursuit

Consumers nowadays have easy and rich access to information about social others who are pursuing goals similar to their own (e.g., through a Fitbit device, the Endomondo mobile app, stickK.com). This research focuses on objective social information during goal striving (e.g., performance data and progress information of others) and shows that this information may not always be welcome. The author finds that when people are in the middle of a goal pursuit journey (vs. when they have just begun or are about to complete their goal), to circumvent potentially negative comparisons, they avoid information about social referents who are relevant (pursuing the same goal), proximal (in the same stage of goal pursuit), and superior. Head turn frequency, eye movements, and consumers’ direct choices in the lab and in the field are used to document a U-shaped pattern of information avoidance behavior, which paradoxically contributes to the phenomenon whereby goal pursuers become “stuck in the middle” of their pursuits. These findings connect the information avoidance literature with the psychophysics of goal pursuit and shed light on the questions of when and why people may be undermining their goal striving by avoiding relevant, motivating social information.