How Consumers Use Variety to Minimize Guilt and Maximize Reward When Pursuing Self-Regulatory Goals

People set goals that require self-regulation. In this research, we propose that when people are primed with a self-regulation goal, less variety in goal incompatible acts and more variety in goal compatible ones result in less anticipated guilt and more anticipated reward, respectively. Across six studies, we show that engaging in a greater (than smaller) variety of goal-inconsistent activities makes goal primed people feel guiltier (studies 1a & 1b), because they perceive a greater (than smaller) variety of indulgent items to be greater in quantity (study 2). Hence, goal primed people avoid variety in order to minimize anticipated guilt (studies 3&4). In the goal compatible domain, however, people who are primed with a self-regulatory goal, include more variety in their choices, adjusting for the preferences of the options consumed (study 5).

Many thanks to Hoori’s dissertation committee: • Committee Chair – Daniel Korschun - Associate Professor – Drexel University • Committee Co-Chair: Yanliu Huang - Assistant Professor – Drexel University • Committee Member Chen Wang - Assitant Professor – Drexel University • Committee Member: Barbara Kahn - Professor – University of Pennsylvania