On Metamotivation: Consumers’ Knowledge about the Role of Construal Level in Enhancing Task Performance

Self-regulation research typically focuses on the modulation of thoughts, feelings, and behavior to achieve desired ends. We propose that understanding the regulation of the underlying motivational orientations that drive these reactions is a critical yet underappreciated research question. We review research on metamotivation—people’s understanding and goal-directed regulation of their motivational states. A central metamotivational challenge is identifying the type and amount of motivation that best promotes goal outcomes in a task, and then finding the means to instantiate this state. To illustrate these principles, we review research in the context of construal level theory. This work suggests that people recognize high-level and low-level construal as motivational orientations that benefit performance on distinct tasks and may strategically select the construal level induction that best promotes performance. We then discuss the implications of this work (and the metamotivational approach more generally) for consumer behavior research.