Framing Goals to Influence Personal Savings: The Role of Specificity and Construal Level

Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 48, pp. 958-969, December 2011

12 Pages Posted: 28 Nov 2011

See all articles by Gülden Ülkümen

Gülden Ülkümen

University of Southern California

Amar Cheema

University of Virginia (UVA), McIntire School of Commerce

Date Written: December 2011

Abstract

In four studies, we show that consumers’ savings can be increased or decreased merely by changing the way consumers think about their saving goals. Consumers can (a) either specify or not specify an exact amount to save (goal specificity), and (b) they can focus on either how to save, or why to save (construal level). We find that specific goals help consumers save more when the saving goal is construed at a high level, but non-specific goals help consumers save more when the saving goal is construed at a low level. We obtain the same pattern of results with anticipated saving success and actual savings. Mediation analyses reveal that for high-level construers specific (vs. non-specific) goals lead to success because they are perceived to be more important. However, specific (vs. non-specific) goals are also perceived as more difficult, which is more discouraging for low-level construers.

Keywords: goals, saving, financial decision making, goal specificity, construal level

JEL Classification: M31, E21

Suggested Citation

Ulkumen, Gulden and Cheema, Amar, Framing Goals to Influence Personal Savings: The Role of Specificity and Construal Level (December 2011). Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 48, pp. 958-969, December 2011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1965280

Gulden Ulkumen (Contact Author)

University of Southern California ( email )

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Los Angeles, CA 90089
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Amar Cheema

University of Virginia (UVA), McIntire School of Commerce ( email )

125 Ruppel Drive
Charlottesville, VA 22903
United States
434-924-4350 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.commerce.virginia.edu/faculty/cheema

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