50. People are more motivated as they get closer to a goal

50

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• Caption: photo from Harvard Extension School

Scenario A vs B

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• You are given a card so when you buy a cup of coffee you get closer each time until you get a free cup of coffee.
• Card A- Has 10 boxes for stamps and when you reach to the 10th box you get a free cup of coffee.
• Card B- Has 12 boxes for stamps with 2 already stamped and when you reach the 12th box you get a free cup of coffee.
• Which card do you think will get filled up first, even though its the same amount of boxes that need to be stamped?
• Card B will be filled up faster because of goal-gradient effect. This means it will accelerate your behavior as you progress closer to your goal.
• This scenario was studied by Ran Kivetz in 2006 after Clark Hull in 1934 did a research on rats where he noticed they ran faster when they saw the food at the end of the maze. In addition to the coffee card scenario Kivetz did a similar study with a web site.