Numbers and Units Affect Goal Pursuit Organization and Motivation

Goals are one of the most ubiquitous drivers of behavior. Despite the wealth of research on goal pursuit, less is known about how individuals organize their goal pursuit in the first place. This manuscript represents one of the first studies to provide insight into quantitative goal organization, proposing that the unit/numerical value in which a goal is described influences goal pursuit organization. Specifying a superordinate goal in units with larger numbers (e.g., studying for an exam for 120 minutes per week), rather than with smaller numbers (2 hours per week), leads to a goal pursuit structure that consists of more, but smaller subgoals. We also find that units with larger compared to smaller numbers tend to have a positive effect on goal motivation (i.e. more likely to start the goal earlier and to finish it). Finally, this positive effect on goal motivation is attenuated when consumers focus is on the number of subgoals left (rather than completed) while pursuing the overarching goal. We believe that changing units may be an easyto-implement nudge for anyone (e.g., marketers, managers, public policymakers, behavioral therapists, etc.) who wants to increase the likelihood that individuals use a particular goal pursuit structure

Falling Back on Numbers: When Preference for Numerical Product Information Increases after a Personal Control Threat

Despite the ubiquity of numerical information in consumers’ lives, prior research has provided limited insights to marketers about when numerical information exerts greater impact on decisions. This study offers evidence that judgments involving numerical information can be affected by consumers’ sense of personal control over the environment. A numerical attribute’s format communicates the extent to which the magnitude of a benefit is predictable (Study 1a), such that people who experience a control threat and want to see their external environment as predictable (Study 1b) rely on point value (vs. range) information as a general signal that the environment is predictable (Study 2). A personal control threat changes consumers’ preferences as a function of whether the numerical information appears as a point value or a range (Studies 3–4). This heightened focus on format may lessen the impact of a product benefit’s predicted magnitude, if a lower magnitude is specified in a more precise format (Study 5). Study 6 provides first evidence that the interactive effect of personal control levels and numerical formats can affect consequential choices