Does Timing of Self-Control Strategies Matter? How Focusing on Proactive versus Reactive Strategies Affects Monthly Spending

Abstract

Overspending and succumbing to spending temptations is a pervasive problem. Self-control strategies can help people resist temptations and make goal-consistent decisions. In an online longitudinal study (N = 363), participants set a monthly spending goal and were randomly assigned to use self-control strategies ahead of tempting situations (proactive condition), during tempting situations (reactive condition), or did not receive strategy instructions (control condition). They reported their all-inclusive spending at month-end. The proactive (vs. reactive) condition reported spending less. The proactive condition also spent less than planned, whereas the reactive condition spent more than planned. The control condition did not differ from the other conditions. Consistent with self-control theories, self-control strategies used before encountering spending temptations may be more effective.