To plan or not to plan? Goal achievement or interrupting the performance of mundane behaviors

Aarts, Hag Henk; Dijksterhuis, Ap; Midden, Cjh Cees

doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-0992(199912)29:8<971::aid-ejsp963>3.0.co;2-a

Cited by 182 publications

(116 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Because forming an implementation intention implies the selection of a critical future situation, the mental representation of this situation becomes highly activated and hence more accessible (Gollwitzer, 1999). This heightened accessibility of the if-part of the plan has been observed in several studies (e.g., Aarts, Dijksterhuis, & Midden, 1999;Parks-Stamm, Gollwitzer, & Oettingen, 2007;Webb & Sheeran, 2007. The heightened activation of the critical situation helps people to easily detect their moment for acting (e.g., Webb & Sheeran, 2004;Wieber & Sassenberg, 2006) even when attention is otherwise absorbed .…”

Section: Mechanisms Of Implementation Intention Effectsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Self‐regulation of consumer decision making and behavior: The role of implementation intentions

Gollwitzer

Sheeran

2009

J Consum Psychol

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People may use the self-regulatory strategy of forming implementation intentions (i.e., if-then plans) to make better consumer decisions and facilitate the translation of those decisions into action. First, research on the mechanisms and effects of implementation intentions is reviewed. Second, we discuss how implementation intentions can be used to improve consumer decision making by promoting attention control and information elaboration, and overcoming disruptive influences. Third, we consider the various problems that militate against the enactment of one's decisions, and evidence is presented to show that implementation intentions are still effective even when goal attainment does not seem to be amenable to self-regulation. Finally, potential moderators of implementation intention effects are discussed.Research on consumer decision making and behavior focuses on what determines a person's decisions and whether such decisions are translated into action. Accumulated evidence suggests that consumers' decisions are strongly affected by the information presented and how willing and able perceivers are to process that information. For instance, it matters whether information about a given product uses images or words, general versus detailed statements, or emotional versus factual content (e.g., Kramer & Yoon, 2007;Wyer, Hung, Jiang, 2008;Yoon, Cole, & Lee, 2007). Whether one or the other type of information has greater impact on people's decisions is influenced by features of the recipients such as their cognitive capacity, motivation, mood, age, inter alia. The enactment of consumer decisions, on the other hand, has been found to depend on features of the situational context in which action is initiated (e.g., the presence of barriers, distractions, bad habits, and social support), the strength of the person's commitment to purchasing the item (e.g., persistence in obtaining the product), and available resources (e.g., credit rating or negotiation skills). This paper proposes that people can control the influence of such determinants on consumer decision making and decision realization by adopting a self-regulatory strategy called implementation intentions (i.e., if-then plans). Using this strategy, people plan out in advance exactly how they will respond in situ. In the case of decision making, such plans may pertain to how deeply presented information is processed (e.g., in a systematic rather than a heuristic fashion) or how much weight should be attached to different types of information (e.g., affective versus cognitive). In the case of decision realization, such plans may specify how to get started with enacting the consumer decision (e.g., planning the time and place of purchase) or how to shield decision enactment from disruptive influences (e.g., dealing with a domineering salesperson). In other words, we will suggest that if-then plans that specify do's and don'ts of effective decision making and decision implementation can facilitate good consumer decisions and behavioral enactment. By using if-then p...

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Section: Mechanisms Of Implementation Intention Effectsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Self‐regulation of consumer decision making and behavior: The role of implementation intentions

Gollwitzer

Sheeran

2009

J Consum Psychol

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“…The assumption that implementation intentions enhance vigilance for relevant situational cues is intuitively reasonable and empirically well supported. Individuals who are induced to form an implementation intention are found to attend to critical situational cues (Gollwitzer, 1996) and to detect and remember those cues better (Aarts, Dijksterhuis, & Midden, 1999).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

From Intentions to Behavior: Implementation Intention, Commitment, and Conscientiousness¹

Ajzen

Czasch

Flood

2009

J Applied Social Pyschol

325

228

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Implementation intentions are said to transfer control over goal‐directed behavior to situational cues, thereby automating initiation of the behavior (Gollwitzer, 1999). Alternatively, implementation intentions may be effective because they create commitment to the intended behavior. In an empirical study, implementation intentions regarding a simple task (rating TV newscasts) varied in their specificity. In addition, explicit commitment to the task was manipulated, and chronic conscientiousness was assessed. Consistent with the commitment hypothesis, general and specific implementation intentions were equally effective in raising level of task performance, and they were no more effective than asking for an explicit commitment to carry out the task. Also, individuals high in conscientiousness were more likely than individuals low on this trait to enact their intentions.

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“…The cognitive associations that may possibly be affected when formulating multiple plans are of importance, as they are considered to be the essential working mechanism behind implementation intention effectiveness (Aarts, Dijksterhuis & Midden, 1999;Adriaanse, Gollwitzer, De Ridder, De Wit & Kroese, 2011a). Specifically, habitual behaviors are characterized by their increased accessibility in response to a critical cue: when a critical situation is encountered, the habitual response has a cognitive advantage over the alternative behaviors for this situation, as it is more accessible than the alternative behavior (Adriaanse et al, 2011a).…”

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confidence: 99%

Less is more: The effect of multiple implementation intentions targeting unhealthy snacking habits

Verhoeven

Adriaanse

Ridder

et al. 2013

Euro J Social Psych

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Implementation intentions have been shown to effectively change counter‐intentional habits. Research has, however, almost solely been concerned with the effectiveness of a single plan. In the present research, we investigated the behavioral and cognitive implications of making multiple implementation intentions targeting unhealthy snacking habits and its underlying processes, linking multiple habitual snacking cues to healthy alternatives. Study 1 revealed that formulating multiple implementation intentions was not effective in decreasing unhealthy snacking, whereas formulating a single plan successfully induced behavior change. By using a lexical decision task in Study 2, it was found that when making a single plan, but not multiple plans, the healthy alternative became cognitively more accessible in response to a critical cue prime than the habitual response. However, when making additional plans in an unrelated domain, the negative effects of making multiple plans were absent. In sum, the current findings suggest that formulating multiple implementation intentions is ineffective when changing unwanted behavior. These reduced effects of multiple implementation intentions do not occur when making the plan but are rather due to interference in the enacting phase of the planning process. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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To plan or not to plan? Goal achievement or interrupting the performance of mundane behaviors

Cited by 182 publications

References 5 publications

Self‐regulation of consumer decision making and behavior: The role of implementation intentions

Self‐regulation of consumer decision making and behavior: The role of implementation intentions

From Intentions to Behavior: Implementation Intention, Commitment, and Conscientiousness¹

Less is more: The effect of multiple implementation intentions targeting unhealthy snacking habits

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To plan or not to plan? Goal achievement or interrupting the performance of mundane behaviors

Cited by 182 publications

References 5 publications

Self‐regulation of consumer decision making and behavior: The role of implementation intentions

Self‐regulation of consumer decision making and behavior: The role of implementation intentions

From Intentions to Behavior: Implementation Intention, Commitment, and Conscientiousness1

Less is more: The effect of multiple implementation intentions targeting unhealthy snacking habits

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

From Intentions to Behavior: Implementation Intention, Commitment, and Conscientiousness¹