← all facts
motivation
You work harder as you approach a goal.
A 2006 study by Kivetz, Urminsky, and Zheng empirically resurrected the 1932 'goal-gradient hypothesis' by showing that consumers increase their purchase frequency as they approach a reward.
The claim is that the study discovered the effect, whereas it actually applied and verified an existing psychological principle in a new setting.
Your persistence is often just a product of proximity.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Kivetz, Urminsky, and Zheng, 2006, Journal of Marketing Research
- What the check found
- The study successfully demonstrated the effect in a modern marketing context, but it is not the origin of the psychological theory. It was a replication/resurrection of the 1932 goal-gradient hypothesis.
- Confidence
- Solid, with limits
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.