The Effects of Goal Publicity and Self-Monitoring on Escalation of Goal Commitment

Abstract

The current research examines whether the public or private nature of consumer goals affects goal-commitment escalation following initial goal failure. In particular, the authors explore the moderating role of self-monitoring. Across three experiments, the authors demonstrate that high self-monitors are more likely to persist following a public failure than a private failure. However, the public versus private nature of the goal failure does not affect low self-monitors’ persistence. The authors also explore two boundary conditions for this effect by manipulating the timing of feedback and by testing the role of the perceived value of the incentive for achieving the goal. The article concludes with a discussion of theoretical and managerial insights from this work.