The Fresh Deadline Effect: First of the Month Deadlines Increase Motivation by Decreasing Perceived Time

Rebecca L. Chae and Katherine A. Burson

Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2026, vol. 11, issue 3, 242 - 252

Abstract: Deadlines are a common tool for motivating consumer behavior, yet their effectiveness can depend on subtle features of temporal framing. Across eight experiments (N=3,045 including a posttest and two studies reported in the appendix, available onlineappendix), we identify a novel phenomenon—the fresh deadline effect—wherein deadlines that fall on the first of the month compress the perceived time during which a task must be completed and increase motivation to complete the task. Time intervals ending on the first feel subjectively shorter than equivalent durations ending within the same month or later in the following month, despite objective duration being held constant. This perceptual time compression increased motivation toward a deadline. A field experiment further showed that an expiration on the first increased coupon redemption rates. These findings contribute to research on time perception, temporal landmarks, and motivation, and offer practical insights for marketers and organizations designing time-sensitive interventions.

Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/740290 (application/pdf)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/740290 (text/html)
Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ucp:jacres:doi:10.1086/740290

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of the Association for Consumer Research from University of Chicago Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Journals Division ().