When we are just a little short of achieving the desired goal, we experience a strong desire to receive at least something in return.
Anyone who has ever tried slot machines knows the feeling of both disappointment and revival when the machine gives out, for example, four identical icons out of five required ones. Slot machine manufacturers take advantage of this, often programming them so that options like “7, 7, and almost 7” come up much more often than with a completely random distribution.
To understand what is behind these experiences, psychologists Monica Wadhwa (Monica Wadhwa) and Christine Kim (Christine Kim) from the International Business School INSEAD conducted several experiments. In one of them, they gave out instant lottery tickets to 164 shoppers entering a fashion store. If six identical symbols were found under the erasable layer on the ticket, the buyer won $20. Tickets were specially made in such a way that a third of the buyers won, a third lost without any chance, and another third was not enough to win just a little – they turned out to have five identical symbols out of the six required. The participants then went to the store to shop, and at the exit, the researchers asked them to look at their checks. Those who “almost won” bought much more than everyone else.
Read more:
- Lyudmila Petranovskaya: “Finding an approach to the right person is today’s formula for success”
In another experiment, participants played a computer game in which they had to turn over virtual plates that were either stones or diamonds. The goal of the game was to open eight diamonds in a row. After the game, the participants received a chocolate bar, for which they had to go down a long corridor. The results of the game were determined in advance: a third of the participants lost immediately, another third found seven stones, but almost immediately, and a third of the participants found seven diamonds, but lost on the last attempt. It was they who were the fastest to go for a chocolate bar along the corridor (some 20% faster than others). The second group also formally “almost won”, but they knew from the very beginning that they would lose in the end.
Back in the 1930s, the concept of the “goal gradient” was developed, which states that our motivation to achieve a goal increases as we get closer to that goal. For example, if there are 100 “steps” left to the goal, then the first step only brings us very slightly closer to it, but when the goal is already close, each next step becomes much more significant. But if we suddenly lose an award when it is close, our willingness to act, motivation and desire to receive a prize will not just disappear. Often we just switch to other goals. In the described experiments, the “almost winning” participants apparently wanted to get at least something, and quickly, because of which they made a lot of purchases or ran for the promised chocolate bar.
Подробнее см. M. Wadhwa, C. Kim «Can a near win kindle motivation? The impact of nearly winning on motivation for unrelated rewards», Psychological Science, June 2015, vol. 26, № 6.