Self-regulation and goal-directed behavior: A systematic literature review, public policy recommendations, and research agenda

The act of self-regulation, also referred to as self-control, is antithesis to profligacy. Self-regulation is central to human behavior and is the core of a well-functioning society. Although self-regulation as a research topic has been well-researched, systematic literature reviews on this domain are rare. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this article is one of the first to present a systematic literature review on self-regulation and goal-directed behavior. The authors compiled a study pool of 78 papers over a period of 1990–2021. This study complements the Theory, Characteristics, Context, and Methodology (TCCM) framework, and presents the TCCMP framework to provide public policy recommendations. Further, the authors extract seminal models in the self-regulation literature to re-integrate them into contemporary marketing research. Through the insights gained from the literature review, this paper presents suggestions for public policies, and develops a detailed research agenda.