Recurring Goals and Learning: The Impact of Successful Reward Attainment on Purchase Behavior

The authors examine the impact of successfully attaining a goal on future effort directed at attaining the same goal. Using data from a major frequent-flier program, they demonstrate empirically how success contributes to an increase in effort exhibited in consecutive attempts to reach a goal. They replicate the effects in a laboratory study that shows that the impact of success is significant only when the goal is challenging. They also show how progress enhances perceptions of self-efficacy and how successfully completing the task provides an added boost, supporting the notion that self-learning is the principle mechanism driving their results.