Goal Pursuit, Now and Later: Temporal Compatibility of Different versus Similar Means

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].. Compatibility between the degree of similarity among means to goal attainment and the anticipated timing of goal pursuit increases goal-directed motivation. Six studies demonstrate that consumers are more motivated and willing to pay for means to goal attainment in the near term when they plan to use a set of different (vs. similar) means. In contrast, consumers are more motivated and willing to pay for means to goal attainment in the long term when they plan to use similar (vs. different) means. For example, consumers paid more for a personal training session when told it would include exercises for different (similar) muscle groups and would take place this week (next month). These effects are driven by the ease of processing differences (similarities) when considering the near (far) future. Similar results were obtained across various domains, including health and fitness, saving money, and academic performance. P lanning for goal pursuit occurs on a continual basis. Health-conscious consumers go grocery shopping for healthy snacks to consume over the next few days, social individuals make plans with friends for now and upcoming weeks, and students buy study guides for standardized tests weeks or months in advance. When planning for goal pursuit , consumers often use multiple products or engage in multiple behaviors to help them achieve their goals. These goal-related products and behaviors (i.e., means) may differ in similarity. For example, consumers may purchase many of the same healthy snacks or many different healthy snacks (e.g., granola bars, fresh fruit, etc.) with the intention of using the products to help them pursue their health goal. Likewise, individuals may plan similar activities or very Jordan Etkin ([email protected]) is a doctoral candidate at the different activities to socialize with friends, and students may purchase relatively similar versus different study guides when preparing for standardized tests. How might the similarity of the means consumers plan to use for goal pursuit affect their motivation? Will the relationship between means similarity and motivation change depending on whether consumers plan to use the means in the near future versus in the far future? In the present research we explore how …