The Endowed Progress Effect: How Artificial Advancement Increases Effort
Abstract
This research documents a phenomenon we call the endowed progress effect, whereby people provided with artificial advancement toward a goal exhibit greater persistence toward reaching the goal. By converting a task requiring eight steps into a task requiring 10 steps but with two steps already complete, the task is reframed as one that has been undertaken and incomplete rather than not yet begun. This increases the likelihood of task completion and decreases completion time. The effect appears to depend on perceptions of task completion rather than a desire to avoid wasting the endowed progress. Moderators include the reason, if any, offered for the endowment and the currency in which progress is recorded.
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The Unanticipated Dynamics of Promoting Crowdfunding Donation Campaigns on Social Media
Dehdashti, Y., Namin, A., Ratchford, B. T., et al. (2022) · Journal of Interactive Marketing · doi:10.1177/10949968221074726 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
“This phenomenon has been verified in a variety of empirical studies (e.g., Kivetz, Urminsky, and Zheng 2006; Nunes and Dréze 2006), and this pattern of increased motivation in the proximity of the goal has come to be known as the “goal gradient motivation” (Cryder, Loewenstein, and Seltman 2013).”
BackgroundSmall Victories: Creating Intrinsic Motivation in Task Completion and Debt Repayment
Brown, A. L., & Lahey, J. (2015) · Journal of Marketing Research · doi:10.1509/jmr.14.0281 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
“Kivetz, Urminsky, and Zheng (2006) and Nunes and Drèze (2006) both demonstrate that any perceived advancement toward a goal, even artificial, increases performance, and they consider the result to be a part of an interpretation of goal-gradient theory that differs from the interpretation we…”
BackgroundThe Role of Primary Care Providers in Encouraging Older Patients to Change Their Lifestyle Behaviors
Bardach, S. H., & Schoenberg, N. E. (2017) · Clinical Gerontologist · doi:10.1080/07317115.2017.1376029 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
“When individuals believe they are making progress toward a goal, they become more motivated to continue working towards that goal; in contrast, individuals’ motivation can decrease when progress is not acknowledged (Nunes & Drèze, 2006).”
BackgroundTouré‐Tillery, M., & Fishbach, A. (2017) · Consumer Psychology Review · doi:10.1002/arcp.1007 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
“…gradient” or “goal- looms- larger” effect, a phenomenon whereby people and other animals increase their efforts and persistence as they approach their goal (Brown, 1948; Förster, Higgins, & Idson, 1998; Heath, Larrick, & Wu, 1999; Hull, 1932; Kivetz, Urminsky, & Zheng, 2006; Nunes & Drèze, 2006).”
BackgroundSu, L., Yang, X., & Huang, Y. (2021) · Journal of Travel Research · doi:10.1177/00472875211000446 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
“…gradient effect indicates that when individuals are closer to the target terminus, their behavioral motivation will heighten with the decrease of temporal distance (Brown 1948; Förster, Higgins, and Idson 1998; Heath, Larrick, and Wu 1999; Kivetz, Urminsky, and Zheng 2006; Nunes and Dreze 2006).”
BackgroundBesharat, A., Carrillat, F. A., & Ladik, D. M. (2014) · Journal of Public Policy & Marketing · doi:10.1509/jppm.13.007 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Wiebenga, J. H., & Fennis, B. M. (2013) · Journal of Consumer Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2013.06.002 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Baek, T. H., & Yoon, S. (2020) · Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services · doi:10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102046 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Chapman, J. R., Kohler, T. B., Rich, P. J., & Trego, A. (2023) · Journal of Research on Technology in Education · doi:10.1080/15391523.2023.2242981 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
“…• Engagement Theory (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1998) • Expectancy Theory (Oliver, 1974) • Theory of Fun (Koster, 2013) • Endowed Progress Effect (Nunes & Dreze, 2006) • Self-regulated Learning (Pintrich, 1995) • Student-centered Learning (Jones, 2007) • Big 5 Personality Traits (W. T. Norman,…”
Wanting Ever More: Acquisition Procedure Motivates Continued Reward Acquisition
Zhang, Y., & Gao, L. (2016) · Journal of Consumer Research · doi:10.1093/jcr/ucw017 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Motivation Resulting from Completed and Missing Actions
Fishbach, A., Koo, M., & Finkelstein, S. R. (2014) · Advances in experimental social psychology · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-800284-1.00005-9 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
The Effects of Quota Frequency: Sales Performance and Product Focus
Chung, D. J., Narayandas, D., & Chang, D. (2020) · Management Science · doi:10.1287/mnsc.2020.3648 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
“6 The “goal-gradient hypothesis” (Hull, 1932; Hull, 1938) postulates that people become more motivated—the goal gradient gets steeper—as their (perceived) progress gets closer to a goal (Cheema & Bagchi, 2011; Kivetz, Urminsky, & Zheng, 2006; Nunes & Drèze, 2006).”
BackgroundReaching for Gold: Frequent-Flyer Status Incentives and Moral Hazard
Orhun, Y., Guo, T., & Hagemann, A. (2022) · Marketing Science · doi:10.1287/mksc.2021.1341 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
“For example, the mere perceived progress hypothesis (Nunes and Dreze, 2006) and the goal gradient hypothesis (Kivetz et al., 2006) predict that consumer valuations increase as consumers make progress towards their status goal.”
Stars versus Bars: How the Aesthetics of Product Ratings “Shape” Product Preference
Jia, H., Wan, E. W., & Zheng, W. (2022) · Journal of Consumer Research · doi:10.1093/jcr/ucac043 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
StudyU: A Platform for Designing and Conducting Innovative Digital N-of-1 Trials
Konigorski, S., Wernicke, S., Slosarek, T., Zenner, A. M., Strelow, N., Ruether, D. F., Henschel, F., Manaswini, M., Pottbäcker, F., Edelman, J. A., et al. (2022) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/35884 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
“We expect positive effects on study adherence of such a design, similar to the endowed progress effect [53].”
BackgroundGaming the gamer? – The ethics of exploiting psychological research in video games
Søraker, J. H. (2016) · Journal of Information Communication and Ethics in Society · doi:10.1108/jices-02-2015-0003 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
“Nunes and Dreze (2006) showed that customers who got a card that required 8 total stamps to get a free item were less likely to complete the rewards card than customers who were given a card that required 10 stamps yet came with 2 stamps for free.”
BackgroundUnderstanding Consumer Dynamic Decision Making Under Competing Loyalty Programs
Liu, J., & Ansari, A. (2020) · Journal of Marketing Research · doi:10.1177/0022243720911894 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
“For instance, Nunes and Drèze (2006) and Kivetz, Urminsky, and Zheng (2006) show how “points pressure” propels consumers to increase their purchase amount or frequency as their accumulated points approach the reward threshold.”
BackgroundNudging is Ineffective When Attitudes Are Unsupportive: An Example from a Natural Field Experiment
Dewies, M., Schop-Etman, A., Rohde, K. I. M., & Denktaş, S. (2021) · Basic and Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1080/01973533.2021.1917412 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
“The prompt exploited the insight that framing a task as begun but incomplete leads to an increased likelihood of task completion (Barasz et al., 2017; Nunes & Dreze, 2006; Ovsiankina, 1928).”
BackgroundShalev, E., & Morwitz, V. G. (2012) · Journal of Consumer Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2012.08.002 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Loyalty program activity: make B2B customers buy more
Kwiatek, P., & Thanasi-Boçe, M. (2019) · Marketing Intelligence & Planning · doi:10.1108/mip-06-2018-0193 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Barasz, K., John, L. K., Keenan, E. A., & Norton, M. I. (2017) · Journal of Experimental Psychology General · doi:10.1037/xge0000337 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
“…family; Smith et al., 2013), contain variety (e.g., baseball cards; Stewart, 1993) and/or come with a reward (e.g., completing a loyalty card; Kivetz, Urminsky, & Zheng, 2006; Nunes & Drèze, 2006; completing a collectible set; Carey, 2008), pseudo-sets are effective in the absence of these factors.”
BackgroundGive Me the Facts or Make Me Feel: How to Effectively Persuade Consumers to Act on a Collective Goal
Jin, L., Wang, Y., & Zhang, Y. (2023) · Journal of Marketing · doi:10.1177/00222429231152446 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Assessing the Effects of Service Variability on Consumer Confidence and Behavior
Voorhees, C. M., Beck, J. M., Randhawa, P., DeTienne, K. B., & Bone, S. A. (2020) · Journal of Service Research · doi:10.1177/1094670520952145 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
“In an LP context, the addition of tiers and status to a program can create additional relational bonds between consumers and firms and entice consumers to deepen their commitment to the firm in pursuit of higher status benefits (Nunes and Drèze 2006).”
BackgroundMotivation-based approach for tailoring persuasive mental health applications
Alqahtani, F., Orji, R., Riper, H. M., McCleary, N., Witteman, H. O., & McGrath, P. J. (2022) · Behaviour and Information Technology · doi:10.1080/0144929x.2022.2031296 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
The Effects of Goal Distance and Value in Escalation of Commitment
Ting, H. (2011) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-011-9100-7 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“However, past research has shown that individuals who experienced progress toward the goal perceived the goal to be closer and are more motivated to attain the goal compared to those who have not yet undertaken the goal, despite the fact that both groups are at the same distance from the goal (Kivetz et al. 2006; Nune…”
BackgroundDeveloping an Effective Loyalty Program Using Goal-Gradient Behavior in Tourism Industry
Song, T. H., Kim, S. Y., & Ko, W. L. (2016) · Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing · doi:10.1080/10548408.2015.1130110 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
“For example, Nunes and Drèze (2006) show that customers provided with artificial advancement (two pre-existing stamps on a 10-purchase reward card) toward reward achievement put in more effort to earn the reward than customers with no artificial advancement (no stamps on an eight-purchase reward…”
BackgroundChan, E. K., Kwortnik, R. J., & Wansink, B. C. (2016) · Cornell Hospitality Quarterly · doi:10.1177/1938965516668403 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
An Integrated Model of Grocery Store Shopping Path and Purchase BehaviorPreprint
Hui, S. K., Bradlow, E. T., & Fader, P. S. (2007) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.960960 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
“This observation may be related to the research on “goal gradient” (e.g., Kivetz et al. 2006), such that consumers tend to expend more effort and “accelerate” as they get closer to their goals (see also Nunes and Dreze 2006a).”
Techniques to Motivate Learner Improvement in Game-Based Assessment
Leonardou, A., Rigou, M., & Garofalakis, J. D. (2020) · Information · doi:10.3390/info11040176 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
“Studies [78] showed that people are twice as likely to achieve a goal if they are given a sense of advancement toward it.”
BackgroundA Psychologically Plausible Goal-Based Utility Function
Gill, G. (2008) · Informing Science The International Journal of an Emerging Transdiscipline · doi:10.28945/447 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“This effect could also lead to the observed phenomenon of increased effort being applied towards goals that are approaching completion (e.g., Nunes & Dreze, 2006 ).”
Backgroundden Bergh, B. V., Heuvinck, N., Schellekens, G. A. C., & Vermeir, I. (2016) · Journal of Consumer Research · doi:10.1093/jcr/ucw031 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
- Authors
- Nunes, J. C., & Drèze, X.
- Affiliations
- University of Southern California (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- ORCID
- Nunes, Joseph C.
- Venue
- Journal of Consumer Research
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2006-03
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 504-512
- ISSN
- 0093-5301 (ISSN-L)
- 1537-5277
- OpenAlex
- W3124406192
- Cited by
- 248
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 3.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Consumer Research (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Keywords
- task persistence, task completion, perceived progress, effort, goal progress, task completion time
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