ARE PEOPLE ARE MORE MOTIVATED AS THEY GET CLOSER TO A GOAL?

ARE PEOPLE ARE MORE MOTIVATED AS THEY GET CLOSER TO A GOAL?

1. Example: A

   • Scenario A: Bob receives a rewards card for Susie B's Coffee Shack.. The 10th Coffee is free.
     • Example B
       • Scenario B: Roger receives a rewards card for Susie B's Coffee The 12th Coffee is free, however 2 cups are prefilled in already.
         • Question: How long will it take you to get each card filled up?
           • Who knows.
             • Question: Will it take longer or shorter for scenario a versus scenario B? After all, you have to buy 10 cups of coffee in both scenarios in order to get the free coffee.
               • The answer, is yes. You'll fill up the card faster with Card B then with Card A. And the reason is called the goal – gradient effect!
                 • The goal gradient effect states that you will accelerate your behavior as you progress closer to your goal. The coffee reward card scenarios I described above were part of a research study by Ran Kivetz (2006) to see if people would act like the rats did in an original 1934 study. And the answer is, yes, they do. In addition to the coffee shop study, Kivetz found that people would go to a website more frequently and rate more songs during each visit as they got closer to a reward goal at the site.