GOALS AND MOTIVATION Restricting Choice Freedom Reduces Post-choice Goal Disengagement JORDAN ETKIN AND JULIANO LARAN ABSTRACT Consumers pursue goals by selecting means to their attainment. They might pursue a goal to be healthy, for instance, by choosing healthy snacks or standing rather than sitting at their desk. Making an initial goal-congruent choice, however, often leaves people less motivated to continue pursuing the goal afterward, resulting in a variety of undesirable behaviors (e.g., eating a substantial piece of cake). The current research proposes a novel way to reduce this post-choice goal disengagement effect: restricting consumers’ sense of choice freedom. Three experiments support this prediction and demonstrate why it occurs: by reducing the goal progress an initial choice of means is perceived to ac- complish. Restricting perceived choice freedom can thus help sustain post-choice motivation to pursue valued goals. The findings contribute to the literatures on goals and choice freedom, and offer practical insight into how to structure choice environments to help consumers adhere to long-term goals. T o pursue valued goals, consumers select means to their attainment (i.e., products, services, and behav- iors consistent with the goal; Laran and Janiszewski 2009; Etkin and Ratner 2012). People may pursue a goal to be healthy, for instance, by purchasing fresh produce or ex- ercising at the gym. They may pursue a goal to be successful at work by buying professional attire or working long hours. They may pursue a goal to save money by searching for sales or packing lunch. Importantly, choosing goal-related means can influence post-choice motivation. Making a goal-congruent choice cre- ates a sense of accomplishment or progress toward achieving the goal (Carver and Scheier 1998). Buying fresh produce at the grocery store, for instance, creates the perception of prog- ress toward a goal to be healthy. By signaling that sufficient progress has been made, an initial goal-congruent choice can therefore (temporarily) reduce motivation to pursue the cor- responding goal (Dhar and Simonson 1999; Fishbach and Dhar 2005; Koo and Fishbach 2008). This phenomenon— post-choice goal disengagement—can be a substantial im- pediment to successful long-term goal pursuit (Khan and Dhar 2006; Finkelstein and Fishbach 2010). The current research proposes a novel approach to miti- gating this post-choice goal disengagement effect: restrict- ing consumers’ sense of choice freedom. Specifically, we suggest that restricting the perceived freedom to choose goal-related means can attenuate the decrease in post-choice motivation. We suggest this occurs because restricting per- ceived freedom in one’s choice of means reduces the goal progress that choice is perceived to accomplish. Thus, even if the same choice is made, we predict that believing one had less freedom to make it should encourage consumers to stay motivated following choice. This research makes three main contributions. First, it contributes to the literature on goals. While making an ini- tial goal-congruent choice can hamper subsequent motiva- tion (Dhar and Simonson 1999; Fishbach and Dhar 2005; Koo and Fishbach 2008), we demonstrate a novel approach to reducing this post-choice goal disengagement effect: re- stricting perceived choice freedom. Second, the findings con- tribute to the literature on choice freedom. Recent findings suggest that restricting choice freedom has benefits (Iyengar and Lepper 2000; Botti and Iyengar 2004; Botti, Oftali, and Iyengar 2009; Botti and Hsee 2010), and contributing to this perspective, we identify selecting means to a goal as an im- portant context where less freedom can boost post-choice outcomes. Third, this work offers practical insight into how to improve consumer decisions. Our findings suggest that re- stricting people’s sense of freedom to choose means may encourage subsequent decisions that support valued goals. GOAL-CONGRUENT CHOICE Goals represent desirable outcomes that are pursued through goal-directed behavior (Custers and Aarts 2005). In consumer Jordan Etkin (jordan.etkin@duke.edu) is an associate professor of marketing at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, 100 Fuqua Drive, Durham, NC, 27708; Juliano Laran (laran@miami.edu) is a professor of marketing at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 33124. JACR, volume 4, number 1. Published online December 3, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/701450 © 2018 the Association for Consumer Research. All rights reserved. 2378-1815/2019/0401-0002$10.00 This content downloaded from 129.171.006.016 on January 07, 2019 12:14:24 PM All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).