Framing Goals to Influence Personal Savings: The Role of Specificity and Construal Level

TLDR

Consumers can set savings goals that vary in specificity (exact amount versus unspecified) and in construal level (how to save versus why to save). The studies demonstrate that specific savings goals boost savings for high‑level construals but not for low‑level construals, whereas nonspecific goals have the opposite effect, a pattern that also applies to anticipated and actual savings and is mediated by perceived importance and difficulty.

Abstract

In four studies, the authors show that consumers’ savings can be increased or decreased merely by changing the way consumers think about their saving goals. Consumers can (1) either specify or not specify an exact amount to save (goal specificity) and (2) focus on either how to save or why to save (construal level). The results illustrate that specific goals help consumers save more when the saving goal is construed at a high level but that nonspecific goals help consumers save more when the saving goal is construed at a low level. The same pattern of results occurs with anticipated saving success and actual savings. Mediation analyses reveal that for high-level construers, specific (vs. nonspecific) goals lead to success because they are perceived as more important. However, specific (vs. nonspecific) goals are also perceived as more difficult, which is more discouraging for low-level construers.