Effort intensifies as a goal comes nearer, so visible proximity to completion is itself motivating.
Hull observed rats running faster as they neared the goal box in 1932. Kivetz, Urminsky and Zheng found analogous acceleration in 2006, in café loyalty programmes and online reward tasks.
In practice
- A café loyalty card sees purchases accelerate as the last few stamps approach.
- A ten-part course sees its highest completion between parts eight and ten, and its heaviest attrition at part two.
- Standing
- Hull's animal work is the precursor; Kivetz and colleagues supplied the human field evidence.
- Subject
- Psychology & Behavior
- Essay
- A century and a half of measuring the mind