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The G ... Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quis enim redargueret? Quid est igitur, cur ita semper deum appellet Epicurus beatum et aeternum? Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Hoc non est positum in nostra actione. Hoc loco tenere se Triarius non potuit. Honesta oratio, Socratica, Platonis etiam. Mihi quidem Antiochum, quem audis, satis belle videris attendere. Atque ab his initiis profecti omnium virtutum et originem et progressionem persecuti sunt. Pauca mutat vel plura sane; Oratio me istius philosophi non offendit; Quod vestri non item. Quae contraria sunt his, malane? Eiuro, inquit adridens, iniquum, hac quidem de re; Teneo, inquit, finem illi videri nihil dolere. Haec bene dicuntur, nec ego repugno, sed inter sese ipsa pugnant.




- Show progress towards a goal.
Provide your audience with a visual representati ...
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Rhetorice igitur, inquam, nos mavis quam dialectice disputare? Effluit igitur voluptas corporis et prima quaeque avolat saepiusque relinquit causam paenitendi quam recordandi. Nos commodius agimus. Cum id quoque, ut cupiebat, audivisset, evelli iussit eam, qua erat transfixus, hastam. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Inquit, dasne adolescenti veniam? Neque enim civitas in seditione beata esse potest nec in discordia dominorum domus; Audio equidem philosophi vocem, Epicure, sed quid tibi dicendum sit oblitus es.
Magni enim aestimabat pecuniam non modo non contra leges, sed etiam legibus partam. Et adhuc quidem ita nobis progresso ratio est, ut ea duceretur omnis a prima commendatione naturae. Qui convenit? Tu autem negas fortem esse quemquam posse, qui dolorem malum putet. Res enim concurrent contrariae. Et si turpitudinem fugimus in statu et motu corporis, quid est cur pulchritudinem non sequamur? Quid enim mihi potest esse optatius quam cum Catone, omnium virtutum auctore, de virtutibus disputare? Polemoni et iam ante Aristoteli ea prima visa sunt, quae paulo ante dixi.
Quid igitur dubitamus in tota eius natura quaerere quid sit effectum? Qui-vere falsone, quaerere mittimus-dicitur oculis se privasse; Non igitur potestis voluptate omnia dirigentes aut tueri aut retinere virtutem. Mihi, inquam, qui te id ipsum rogavi? Non quaero, quid dicat, sed quid convenienter possit rationi et sententiae suae dicere. Nos vero, inquit ille; Quid censes in Latino fore? Quis enim potest ea, quae probabilia videantur ei, non probare? Sic enim censent, oportunitatis esse beate vivere. Quid turpius quam sapientis vitam ex insipientium sermone pendere?
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.
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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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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