How to increase motivation to goal adherence: Commitment- and progress-based goal representations
People are most often quite capable of achieving personal goals such as getting good grades, dieting, or donating money to charities when they are able and motivated. However, goals can often be associated with uncertainty which can reduce motivation to goal adherence. Fishbach and colleagues have recently begun to discover how we can increase motivation to goal achievement by focusing on either what people have accomplished to date or what they have yet to accomplish.
What determines action?
In a series of studies in several domains such as education, consumer behaviour, charitable fundraising, and dieting, Fishbach and colleagues have found that representing a goal in terms of commitment (i.e. achieved to date) or progress (i.e. left to go) makes people focus on different aspects of that goal that can increase or decrease motivation to pursue the goal (e.g. Koo & Fishbach, 2008). However, the effect of representing goals as commitment- or progress-based is determined by commitment certainty (for review, see Fishbach, 2008).
When commitment is uncertain, low, or when people are unsure about their level of goal commitment, they are primarily concerned about evaluating whether a goal is worth pursuing. But how can people evaluate whether a goal is worth pursuing? One place to look for an answer is to look at prior accomplishments or what has been achieved to date. Consequently, focusing on accomplishments to date should be more motivating than focusing on what is left to accomplish.
In contrast, it appears that if a goal is unambiguously important, people are certain about their goals (Brunstein & Gollwitzer, 1996). And people who are highly committed to a goal are interested in knowing what remains to be accomplished. But how can people evaluate whether they are progressing towards a goal? The answer is to look at lack of progress, what remains, or what is yet to be accomplished. As a result, focusing on what is yet to be accomplished should be more motivating than focusing on what is accomplished to date.
Determining commitment certainty
The implications from this line of research seem clear. When communicating to people either one-on-one or via technology, the way we represent goals (commitment vs. progress) should take into consideration commitment certainty to increase motivation towards goals and advance performance. But when do we know when commitment is high or low?
One possible way of determining commitment certainty is to look at the presence of incentives or rewards. People should ideally feel that what they do, such as studying, is their own decision and that they are doing it without any obvious external incentives present (Ryan & Deci, 2000). In such cases, we can assume that commitment certainty is high and that goals are unambiguously important. According to Fishbach’s research, we should thus focus on what is yet to be accomplished to increase motivation to goal adherence. This would most likely be the case for most students in compulsory courses required to attain their degree. 
But, in many cases, communication one-on-one or via technology relies on extrinsic persuasive strategies which can make people who are uncertain or low in motivation to just roll with the persuader. That is, students’ motivation for committing to a course and fulfilling the course requirements are determined by external demands such as money for good grades, praise by the lecturer, or threat of punishment such as fail on the exam. This would most likely be the case for students in elective courses where commitment certainty usually is high (“Is this the right course for me?”). According to Fishbach’s research, we should thus focus on what is accomplished to enhance commitment and build intrinsic motivation. Help students increase their motivation by assessing the amount of time and effort invested in studying or completing an academic task to date.
Conclusion
So why bother with commitment certainty and goal representations? After all, are not incentives or extrinsic motivation suitable strategies for making people purchase products, donate to charity, or do some studying? When there is no need for a long-term user or customer relationship or commitment, then probably yes. However, few would argue that they do not need long-term users or customers that are committed and loyal. Thus, the long-term effects of commitment uncertainty and lack of intrinsic motivation are such that users and customers will most likely purchase fewer items, discontinue charitable contributions, and give lower priority to or drop out of class (for review, see Deci, Koestner & Ryan, 1999).
Key reading(s):
Koo, M. & Fishbach, A. (2008). Dynamics of self-regulation: How (un)accomplished goal actions affect motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94, 183-195.
References:
Brunstein, J. C., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (1996). Effects of failure on subsequent performance: The importance of self-defining goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 395-407.
Deci, E. L., Koestner, R. & Ryan, R. M. (1999). A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 627-688.
Fishbach, A. (2008). The dynamics of self-regulation. In Forgas, J., Baumeister, R. F. & Tice, D. M. (Eds.): The psychology of self-regulation. New York: Psychology Press.
Ryan, R. M. & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68-78.
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