The other half of the cards were non-endowed, and patrons only required eight stamps to receive a free car wash.
They developed the goal-distance model that asserts that "investment" in goal pursuit is inversely proportional to the psychological distance between requirements received in pursuit of the reward and the total number of requirements needed to achieve the reward.
[3] Perceptions of progress subsequently impact the level of effort exerted during various steps during goal pursuit.
Consistent with the psychophysics model, Bonezzi et al. (2011) found that the rate of donations by participants in the to-date group was highest during the early stages of the goal and the rate of donation by participants in the to-go group was highest during the late stages of the goal.
[9] Fishbach, Eyal, and Finkelstein (2010) extended this concept to predict behavior during goal pursuit when positive and negative feedback are received.
[10] They assert that individuals who are commitment focused are expected to pursue goal-congruent actions when receiving positive feedback, as this feedback serves as evidence of their commitment to the goal; whereas progress-focused individuals perceive the same positive feedback as evidence of sufficient progress toward goal attainment and may subsequently pursue actions incongruent with goal achievement.
[10] Fishback et al. (2010) provide the following example, “…a student who receives a high test score and infers that she likes math will work harder as a result, whereas a classmate who receives similar positive feedback and infers sufficient progress will relax his efforts and focus on spending time with [his] friends.
[10]” Heath, Larrick, and Wu (1999) assert that motivation to pursue a goal can be explained using the principles of Prospect theory – specifically, those associated with the S-shaped value function.
[11] This values approach to motivation emphasizes the following characteristics: Heath et al. (1999) describe goals as reference points.
[11] Specifically, the goal serves as the reference point by which individuals psychologically differentiate between successes and failures.
Heath et al. (1999) state that similar to decisions under uncertainty, loss aversion applies to goals.
[11] Therefore, as an individual moves closer toward accomplishing her goal, the perceived value of progress increases.
Therefore, Heath et al. (1999) assert that setting subgoals is an effective strategy to motivate successful goal pursuit.
[11] On the other hand, Amir and Ariely (2008) posit that discrete progress markers (DPMs) or subgoals may cause complacency and distract attention from the primary end goal.
[2] Consistent with Fishbach and Dhar (2005), Amir and Ariely (2008) propose that accomplishing a DPM may lead to less motivation to achieve a goal end state.
Amir and Ariely (2008) describe courtship of a romantic interest as a goal with high progress uncertainty.
Fox and Hoffman (2002) also leverage Atkinsonian concepts that equate persistence to conservation of momentum (a physics principle).
[12]" Goals that are perceived to be very valuable, defined as those that meet the needs of the individual, are high valence.
Arkes and Blumer (1985) define sunk cost effects as "a greater tendency to continue an endeavor once an investment in money, effort, or time has been made.