When Having a Trick Up Your Sleeve Is a Bad Thing: Highly Effective Self-Control Strategies Can Be Demotivating

Speaker: Ding (Allen) Tian, Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Economics and Management School, Wuhan University

Time: December  1st (Thursday) 12:30pm-14:00pm

Location: Wanzhong Building（万众小教室）National School of Development, Peking U.

 

Abstract

Companies often seek to convince consumers of the effectiveness of products that serve as strategies to facilitate self-control, ranging from debt consolidation programs to smartphone applications like MyFitnessPal. Although perceived strategy effectiveness can stimulate purchases, it remains less clear how perceived strategy effectiveness might affect consumer self-control. Contrary to the intuition that a more effective self-control strategy should be more motivating, we propose that greater perceived strategy effectiveness can backfire and undermine self-control, particularly for individuals low in trait self-control who are, ironically, most in need of help. Evidence from four studies reveals that although greater perceived strategy effectiveness appears to enhance self-control among individuals high in trait self-control, it actually jeopardizes self-control in those low in trait self-control by reducing anticipated guilt associated with indulgence. These findings question the belief that having a highly effective self-control strategy at one’s disposal will lead to greater self-control, and suggest that the presence of a highly effective strategy may be construed as a license to indulge. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. 

Bio: 

Ding (Allen) Tian is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Economics and Management School, Wuhan University. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from the Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta. His research interests include consumer self-control, creativity, ritual, and psychological and behavioral consequences of consumption.

 

Your participation is warmly welcomed!