The Fewer the Better: Number of Goals and Savings Behavior

Abstract

This article examines the effect of the number of goals on consumers’ savings behavior. Drawing from research on implementation intention, the authors show that under certain conditions, presenting a single savings goal leads to greater savings intention and actual savings than presenting multiple savings goals. Multiple goals typically evoke trade-offs among competing goals and thus increase the likelihood that people will remain in a deliberative mind-set and defer actions. In contrast, the authors propose and demonstrate that a single goal evokes a stronger implementation intention, which in turn has a greater effect on behavior change. They also show that the advantage of a single goal over multiple goals on saving is attenuated when saving is easier to implement or when the multiple savings goals are integrated rather than competing among themselves. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.