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Goal Gradient Effect
Goal Gradient Effect
Goal Gradient Effect
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Overview

Are you struggling to motivate yourself or others to reach goals? 

The G ...

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quid ei reliquisti, nisi te, quoquo modo loqueretur, intellegere, quid diceret? Ut alios omittam, hunc appello, quem ille unum secutus est. Mihi enim satis est, ipsis non satis. An me, inquam, nisi te audire vellem, censes haec dicturum fuisse? Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Quia dolori non voluptas contraria est, sed doloris privatio. An potest, inquit ille, quicquam esse suavius quam nihil dolere? Hanc se tuus Epicurus omnino ignorare dicit quam aut qualem esse velint qui honestate summum bonum metiantur. Nam de isto magna dissensio est. Qui enim existimabit posse se miserum esse beatus non erit. Illa argumenta propria videamus, cur omnia sint paria peccata.

Quae sequuntur igitur? Tibi hoc incredibile, quod beatissimum. Quae cum dixisset paulumque institisset, Quid est? Egone non intellego, quid sit don Graece, Latine voluptas? Si quicquam extra virtutem habeatur in bonis. Tum ille: Ain tandem? Tollitur beneficium, tollitur gratia, quae sunt vincla concordiae. Sed tempus est, si videtur, et recta quidem ad me. Quid de Platone aut de Democrito loquar?

Summae mihi videtur inscitiae. Qui autem esse poteris, nisi te amor ipse ceperit? Expectoque quid ad id, quod quaerebam, respondeas. Sed ea mala virtuti magnitudine obruebantur. Quid enim necesse est, tamquam meretricem in matronarum coetum, sic voluptatem in virtutum concilium adducere? Qui non moveatur et offensione turpitudinis et comprobatione honestatis? Quid enim mihi potest esse optatius quam cum Catone, omnium virtutum auctore, de virtutibus disputare?

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Actionable Takeaways
  • Show progress towards a goal. 

Provide your audience with a visual representati ...

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Verum hoc idem saepe faciamus. Non est ista, inquam, Piso, magna dissensio. Primum in nostrane potestate est, quid meminerimus? Ergo opifex plus sibi proponet ad formarum quam civis excellens ad factorum pulchritudinem?

Prodest, inquit, mihi eo esse animo. Illi enim inter se dissentiunt. Sextilio Rufo, cum is rem ad amicos ita deferret, se esse heredem Q. Quia nec honesto quic quam honestius nec turpi turpius. Nam Pyrrho, Aristo, Erillus iam diu abiecti. Transfer idem ad modestiam vel temperantiam, quae est moderatio cupiditatum rationi oboediens. Hanc ergo intuens debet institutum illud quasi signum absolvere. Sic, et quidem diligentius saepiusque ista loquemur inter nos agemusque communiter.

Tum Piso: Quoniam igitur aliquid omnes, quid Lucius noster? Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Non est enim vitium in oratione solum, sed etiam in moribus. Putabam equidem satis, inquit, me dixisse. In qua si nihil est praeter rationem, sit in una virtute finis bonorum; Nam, ut sint illa vendibiliora, haec uberiora certe sunt. Cum audissem Antiochum, Brute, ut solebam, cum M. Sed quid sentiat, non videtis. Atqui haec patefactio quasi rerum opertarum, cum quid quidque sit aperitur, definitio est. Unum est sine dolore esse, alterum cum voluptate. Sed quod proximum fuit non vidit. Quod cum accidisset ut alter alterum necopinato videremus, surrexit statim.

Limitations

A variation on the Goal Gradient Effect was posed by marketing academic and researcher Andrea Bonezzi, who argued that “motivation to engage in goal-consistent behavior can be higher when people are either far from or close to the end state and lower when they are about halfway to the end state.”  Thus rather than focusing on the end aspect of the journey, Bonezzi describes a ‘U-shaped’ model of motivation, with the problematic middle between starting point and end goal. 

In Practice

Contributing to charities. 

This study entitled Goal Gradient in Helping Behavior, found that “People are more likely to pitch in as charitable campaigns approach their goals. Such “goal gradient helping” occurs in part because late-stage efforts provide donors with a heightened sense of personal impact, an influential source of satisfaction from prosocial acts.” 

Car wash loyalty. 

This 2006 study, similar to the cited coffee loyalty card example in the summary above, used loyalty cards for a car wash. In this case, one card had 8 spots to fill for a free car wash, the other had 10 with two already stamped. The group given the perceived head start resulted in a 34% engagement rate in the loyalty program compared to 19% for the others.

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Origins & Resources

The Goal Gradient Effect was first identified by Clark Hull during the 1930s in relation to animals, particularly his study of rats accelerating their pace closer to the end of a maze and a food reward. Hull, an engineer by background, went on to break down his observations and interpret them as a mathematical formula which he outlined in his book Principles of Behaviour.  

The effect was expanded to humans in a 2006 study by Ran Kivetz et al. The authors of that study explained: “The key findings indicate that (1) participants in a real café reward program purchase coffee more frequently the closer they are to earning a free coffee; (2) Internet users who rate songs in return for reward certificates visit the rating Web site more often, rate more songs per visit, and persist longer in the rating effort as they approach the reward goal; (3) the illusion of progress toward the goal induces purchase acceleration (e.g., customers who receive a 12-stamp coffee card with 2 preexisting “bonus” stamps complete the 10 required purchases faster than customers who receive a “regular” 10-stamp card); and (4) a stronger tendency to accelerate toward the goal predicts greater retention and faster reengagement in the program.”

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