Strategies for improving self-control among naïve, sophisticated, and time-consistent consumers

Naomi Mandel, Maura L. Scott, Sunghoon Kim and Rajiv K. Sinha

Journal of Economic Psychology, 2017, vol. 60, issue C, 109-125

Abstract: Important prior research has established measurement scales (e.g., Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone, 2004) to determine individual differences in self-control and to predict behavior. However, these measurement scales do not account for the lack of awareness that many people have regarding their own self-control abilities. In the current research, the authors develop a new classification method based on O’Donoghue and Rabin’s (1999a) theory of time-consistent, naïve, and sophisticated individuals, and they show that this method predicts future preferences and behavior. In addition, the authors test two alternative strategies for improving self-control: precommitment (Ariely & Wertenbroch, 2002) and outcome elaboration (Nenkov, Inman, & Hulland, 2008), and they demonstrate how these strategies differentially affect these three categories of consumers.

Keywords: Self-control; Delay of gratification; Goal setting; Intertemporal choice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D03 D12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:60:y:2017:i:c:p:109-125

DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2016.12.003

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