The Different Roads Not Taken: Considering Dissimilar Alternatives Motivates Goal Persistence

Abstract

The previously unchosen options that people consider shapes how they interpret what they didchoose. Beyond previous research showing that foregone alternatives influences consumers’experiences of a chosen option, the current research suggests that how consumers mentallyconstrue goal-inconsistent alternatives they could have chosen impacts how they evaluate theirgoal-consistent choice, which will in turn impact their motivation to continue goal-directedbehaviors subsequently. Specifically, we find that when consumers consider having foregonedissimilar (vs. similar) goal-inconsistent alternatives that they could have chosen instead of thegoal-consistent actions they did take, they believe that they have made higher impact on theiractive goals. As a result, they are then more likely to subsequently make goal-consistent choices.However, considering dissimilar (vs. similar) unchosen options only impacts goal perceptionswhen the focal goal is subjectively important. Our findings hold across different types of goals(saving vs. spending: study 1, donating vs. spending: study 2, healthy vs. tasty food: studies 3 to5), and extend to real choices (study 5).