IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jobhdp/v163y2021icp17-29.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nudging persistence after failure through emergency reserves

Author

Listed:
  • Sharif, Marissa A.
  • Shu, Suzanne B.

Abstract

Along the path of struggling to reach their personal and organizational long-term goals, the experience of an initial subgoal failure can lead individuals to feel less committed to their overall goal and even to give up entirely on reaching it. In one field study and four lab studies, we examine the ability of a cost-free nudge to decrease the detrimental impact of subgoal failure on goal attainment. More specifically, we demonstrate that framing goals with emergency reserves, a type of slack, can motivate individuals to persist after subgoal failures, leading to better performance on long-term goals, compared to objectively equivalent goals without slack. After failing to reach a subgoal, we found that individuals with goals framed with emergency reserves felt a greater sense of perceived progress, causing them to feel more committed to their goal, and thus increasing their likelihood of persisting at their goals.

Suggested Citation

  • Sharif, Marissa A. & Shu, Suzanne B., 2021. "Nudging persistence after failure through emergency reserves," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 17-29.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:163:y:2021:i:c:p:17-29
    DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2019.01.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749597818304187
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.obhdp.2019.01.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ayelet Fishbach & Ravi Dhar, 2005. "Goals as Excuses or Guides: The Liberating Effect of Perceived Goal Progress on Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 32(3), pages 370-377, December.
    2. repec:cup:judgdm:v:7:y:2012:i:1:p:48-60 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Jessica Wisdom & Julie S. Downs & George Loewenstein, 2010. "Promoting Healthy Choices: Information versus Convenience," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 164-178, April.
    4. Dan Acland & Matthew R. Levy, 2015. "Naiveté, Projection Bias, and Habit Formation in Gym Attendance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(1), pages 146-160, January.
    5. Dilip Soman & Mengze Shi, 2003. "Virtual Progress: The Effect of Path Characteristics on Perceptions of Progress and Choice," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(9), pages 1229-1250, September.
    6. Acland, Dan & Levy, Matthew R., 2015. "Naiveté, projection bias, and habit formation in gym attendance," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 66147, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Gary Charness & Uri Gneezy, 2009. "Incentives to Exercise," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(3), pages 909-931, May.
    8. John G. Lynch Jr. & Richard G. Netemeyer & Stephen A. Spiller & Alessandra Zammit, 2010. "A Generalizable Scale of Propensity to Plan: The Long and the Short of Planning for Time and for Money," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(1), pages 108-128, June.
    9. Katherine L. Milkman & John Beshears & James J. Choi & David Laibson & Brigitte C. Madrian, 2011. "Using Implementation Intentions Prompts to Enhance Influenza Vaccination Rates," NBER Working Papers 17183, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Maura L. Scott & Stephen M. Nowlis, 2013. "The Effect of Goal Specificity on Consumer Goal Reengagement," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 40(3), pages 444-459.
    11. Bandura, Albert, 1991. "Social cognitive theory of self-regulation," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 248-287, December.
    12. Timothy Gubler & Ian Larkin & Lamar Pierce, 2016. "Motivational Spillovers from Awards: Crowding Out in a Multitasking Environment," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(2), pages 286-303, April.
    13. Ran Kivetz & Oleg Urminsky & Yuhuang Zheng, 2006. "The Goal-Gradient Hypothesis Resurrected: Purchase Acceleration, Illusionary Goal Progress, and Customer Retention," Natural Field Experiments 00658, The Field Experiments Website.
    14. Krishnamurthy, Parthasarathy & Carter, Patrick & Blair, Edward, 2001. "Attribute Framing and Goal Framing Effects in Health Decisions," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 85(2), pages 382-399, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Daniel Mochon & Janet Schwartz & Josiase Maroba & Deepak Patel & Dan Ariely, 2017. "Gain Without Pain: The Extended Effects of a Behavioral Health Intervention," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(1), pages 58-72, January.
    2. Itzik Fadlon & Torben Heien Nielsen, 2019. "Family Health Behaviors," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(9), pages 3162-3191, September.
    3. Belot, Michèle & James, Jonathan & Nolen, Patrick, 2016. "Incentives and children's dietary choices: A field experiment in primary schools," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 213-229.
    4. Stecher, Chad & Mukasa, Barbara & Linnemayr, Sebastian, 2021. "Uncovering a behavioral strategy for establishing new habits: Evidence from incentives for medication adherence in Uganda," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    5. Christina Gravert & Linus Olsson Collentine, 2019. "When nudges aren't enough: Incentives and habit formation in public transport usage," CEBI working paper series 19-10, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI).
    6. Allais, Olivier & Bazoche, Pascale & Teyssier, Sabrina, 2017. "Getting more people on the stairs: The impact of point-of-decision prompts," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 18-27.
    7. Carrera, Mariana & Royer, Heather & Stehr, Mark & Sydnor, Justin & Taubinsky, Dmitry, 2018. "The limits of simple implementation intentions: Evidence from a field experiment on making plans to exercise," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 95-104.
    8. Arad, Ayala & Gneezy, Uri & Mograbi, Eli, 2023. "Intermittent incentives to encourage exercising in the long run," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 560-573.
    9. Nan Yang & Yong Long Lim, 2018. "Temporary Incentives Change Daily Routines: Evidence from a Field Experiment on Singapore’s Subways," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(7), pages 3365-3379, July.
    10. Homonoff, Tatiana & Willage, Barton & Willén, Alexander, 2020. "Rebates as incentives: The effects of a gym membership reimbursement program," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    11. Biroli, Pietro & Boneva, Teodora & Raja, Akash & Rauh, Christopher, 2022. "Parental beliefs about returns to child health investments," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 231(1), pages 33-57.
    12. Eszter Czibor & David Jimenez‐Gomez & John A. List, 2019. "The Dozen Things Experimental Economists Should Do (More of)," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(2), pages 371-432, October.
    13. Erev, Ido & Hiller, Maximilian & Klößner, Stefan & Lifshitz, Gal & Mertins, Vanessa & Roth, Yefim, 2022. "Promoting healthy behavior through repeated deposit contracts: An intervention study," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    14. Carrera, Mariana & Royer, Heather & Stehr, Mark & Sydnor, Justin, 2018. "Can financial incentives help people trying to establish new habits? Experimental evidence with new gym members," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 202-214.
    15. Johann Caro-Burnett & Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak & Judith A. Chevalier, 2021. "Is Habit a Powerful Policy Instrument to Induce Prosocial Behavioral Change?," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 2275, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    16. Xiao, Erte & Houser, Daniel, 2022. "Sign me up! Promoting volunteering with a compound task mechanism," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 897-913.
    17. Myers, Erica & Souza, Mateus, 2020. "Social comparison nudges without monetary incentives: Evidence from home energy reports," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    18. Gravert, Christina & Olsson Collentine, Linus, 2021. "When nudges aren’t enough: Norms, incentives and habit formation in public transport usage," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 1-14.
    19. Fricke, Hans & Lechner, Michael & Steinmayr, Andreas, 2018. "The effects of incentives to exercise on student performance in college," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 14-39.
    20. Erin T. Bronchetti & Judd B. Kessler & Ellen B. Magenheim & Dmitry Taubinsky & Eric Zwick, 2023. "Is Attention Produced Optimally? Theory and Evidence From Experiments With Bandwidth Enhancements," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 91(2), pages 669-707, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:163:y:2021:i:c:p:17-29. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/obhdp .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.