When Virtue Is a Vice
by Anat Keinan and Ran Kivetz
Though we all have guilty pleasures,
our day-to-day decisions are usually
governed by a deep-seated sense that
we’d be better off in the long run if we
favored work over leisure, necessities
over luxuries, and saving money over
impulsively spending it. But would we
be happier?
Our research shows that forgoing
indulgences today can feed strong regrets later, and that near-term regrets
about self-indulgence dramatically
fade with time. These responses are
so strong that we were able to influence people’s buying behavior simply
by asking them to anticipate their long-term regrets.
One of our studies – published
in the Journal of Consumer Research – explored the regret felt by
college students over their conduct
on recent winter breaks and by alumni
remembering winter breaks of 40
years ago. Regret about not having
spent or traveled more during breaks
increased with time, whereas regret
about not having worked, studied, or
saved money during breaks decreased
with time. We saw a similar pattern
in a study of how businesspeople
perceived past choices between work
and pleasure. Over time, those who
had indulged felt less and less guilty
about their choices, whereas those
who had been dutiful experienced a
growing sense of having missed out
on the pleasures of life.
People who unduly resist self-indulgence suffer from an excessive
farsightedness, or hyperopia – the
reverse of typical self-control problems. Rather than yielding to temptation, they focus on acquiring necessities and acting responsibly and they
see indulgence as wasteful, irresponsible, and even immoral. As a result,
these consumers avoid precisely
the products and experiences that
they most enjoy. Their hyperopia can
inhibit consumption in ways that are
bad both for their own well-being and
for marketers’ bottom lines. We don’t
advocate trying to motivate consumers to make ill-considered purchases,
of course, but marketers can help customers make appropriately indulgent
choices that they’ll appreciate over
the long term.
In another of our studies, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing
Research, 57 consumers were asked
in advance of a shopping-mall trip
to consider two possibilities: buying
an expensive item of clothing that
would make them happy, or buying a
cheaper alternative that would allow
Tap Consumers’ Desire for “Shoulds”
by Katherine L. Milkman
More and more companies today are
engaged in the business of serving our
“should” selves – think of gyms, natu-ral-food stores, and other providers of
the healthful, nutritious, educational,
and uplifting products and services we
know we should consume. But there’s
much these companies don’t know
about how best to satisfy people’s
high-minded desires. New research
leads me to believe that one key to
success may be to sell a virtuous
offering as part of a bundle. In fact, I
believe that many consumers would
jump at the opportunity to make their
future receipt of pleasurable products
contingent upon their future consumption of healthful or educational
products.
Research in a variety of contexts
has shown that people are more likely
to favor pleasurable want options if
the consequences are immediate, and
good-for-you should options if the
consequences will occur in the future.
For example, in a study of online DVD
rentals, I found that when customers
order a highbrow (should) film before a
lowbrow (want) one – a decision made
days before consumption – they return
(and presumably watch) the films out
of order far more often than when they
rent the lowbrow film first.
As these results indicate, even
if people plan to behave virtuously
tomorrow, want often trumps should
when tomorrow arrives. Self-aware individuals sense this about themselves.
Accordingly, these “sophisticates,” as
they are known to researchers, have
long shown a willingness to buy “
commitment devices,” which help them
commit in the present to choosing
should rather than want in the future.
(Classic examples of commitment
devices include piggy banks and diet
treatment centers.)
The bundled offerings I have in
mind would build on these two ideas:
that people favor want things today
and should things tomorrow, and that
sophisticates are willing to pay now to
increase the incentives for their future
selves to engage in should behaviors.
To illustrate this concept, imagine a
movie rental plan that included a free
tub of popcorn with each rental of a
