Kyle Murray (Alberta School of Business) - CME to Host

The Effect of Selective Information Processing on Motivational Intensity and Consumer Self-Regulation

http://www.business.ualberta.ca/KyleMurray [1]

ABSTRACT
Research has demonstrated that consumers struggle to make decisions that are consistent with their long-term goals. Eating behavior has been of particular interest given the rise in global obesity rates – in the U.S., for example, 35% of adults are obese with related annual healthcare costs of $150 billion. Studies in this area have called into question the free will of consumers who appear to lack the willpower necessary to manage their own behavior. Similarly, in a series of experiments, we find that consumers tend to focus on the pleasure of short-term consumption at the expense of their longer-term goals. However, our results also demonstrate that self-regulatory failure is not inevitable and that by focusing on the costs of consumption people are able to tap into resources that enhance their willpower. Building on those results we propose and test a simple decision aid that substantially improves consumers’ judgments relative to their long-term goals.