When to Put the Cart in Front of the Horse: How Presentation Order of Goal Effort and Reward Information Affects Goal Perceptions

The Centre for Multidisciplinary Behavioural Business Research at the John Molson School of Business presents Rajesh Bagchi, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech.

Date	Friday, April 20, 2012
Time	11 a.m.
Location	Concordia University MB Building, Room MB 4.206 1450 Guy Street (de Maisonneuve Blvd. West), Montreal, Quebec. View map
Open to	This presentation is open to all members of Concordia University and local universities.

Consumers are more likely to abandon goals when they are far from completion. Yet, most research focuses on the motivational benefits of goal proximity. We show one way in which consumers can be motivated to pursue goals at the initial stages of goal-pursuit. We argue that presenting reward information first followed by effort required to attain this reward (vs. effort first followed by reward) decreases effort perceptions and enhances goal-pursuit under certain conditions—when effort is perceived to be relatively large (e.g., when expressed using a more numerous medium and when the goal is far). Furthermore, the beneficial effects of reward-effort order persist when individuals are primed to focus on outcomes, but not when they focus on process. We report findings from three studies, investigate the underlying process, and discuss implications for theory and practice.

Rajesh Bagchi

Rajesh Bagchi is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech. Dr. Bagchi received his Bachelors degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai in Civil Engineering in 1998 and his Masters degree from the University of Cincinnati in Environmental Engineering in 2000. Dr. Bagchi worked in several high technology start-ups before obtaining his Doctoral degree in Marketing from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2008. Dr. Bagchi studies the psychological processes that underlie consumer and managerial decision-making. His research primarily focuses on two areas: a) the impact of information framing on consumer judgments and behaviors, and b) how consumers form pricing judgments. Rajesh often draws from and contributes to several literatures, such as those on numerical cognitions, goals, consumer financial decision-making, and pricing. Dr. Bagchi’s research has been published in journals such as the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, and Marketing Letters. Dr. Bagchi was a fellow at the AMA-Sheth Marketing Doctoral Consortium in 2006. Links: Faculty Profile, Virginia Tech Personal Website

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For more information, please contact:

Dr. H. Onur Bodur, Director
Centre for Multidisciplinary Behavioural Business Research
John Molson School of Business
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The Centre for Multidisciplinary Behavioural Business Research (CMBBR) Visiting Speaker Series provides exposure to multidisciplinary research and an opportunity to expand cross-discipline networks.