Reading Comprehension (RC) | For once, the whys are turning out to be more important than the

For once, the whys are turning out to be more important than the hows. A study shows that consumers who become fixated on how to achieve a goal probably face more difficulty in achieving their aims than people who think abstractly about why they want to do something. The authors of the study conducted four experiments to examine consumer behavior when it came to the goal of saving money. In one such experiment, some people were asked to make a specific plan to save money, whereas others were not asked to plan. Then some people were asked to focus on why they wanted to save money. Later on all participants were given the opportunity to buy candy. Subjects who were thinking concretely and formed a specific plan were less able to avoid the candy purchase than those who had not formed a plan at all.

To elucidate the results, the authors cite the instance of person who wants to save money and hence makes a plan for achieving this goal. This person plans to save money by purchasing fewer clothing items at the mall. On investigating how this plan influences the person's response to other money-saving opportunities, for example, would the person be more likely to order a cheaper meal at a restaurant, avoid making an impulse purchase, or combine errands to save money on gas etc., the authors found that when people focus on concrete aspects of how they want to achieve goals, they become more closed-minded and consequently less likely to take advantage of opportunities that fall outside their plans. In contrast, people who focus on the why aspect are more likely to consider out-of-plan opportunities to achieve their goals.

Furthermore, in the same experiment, the group that performed the best was the one that was asked to focus on the “why” and had formed a plan implicitly. Accordingly, the authors conclude that planning is more effective when people plan with the complete understanding of “why”. They suggest that this strategy is particularly effective when the original plan turns out to be unrealistic in terms of feasibility or when other goal-directed activities become available.