October 4, 2011

One Savings Goal Better Than Many

Saving money. No financial behavior is more important in this era of DIY retirement planning. And yet few things are more difficult for more people.

To prod low-income people to save a little, foundations and the government design clever financial products or incentives – some work, some don’t. Academic researchers divine psychological tricks or behavioral mechanisms that might spur saving. Automatic enrollment in employer-supported 401(k)s is one such success story.

A different solution to the savings conundrum comes from two marketing professors at the University of Toronto. Experimenting on subjects around the world – residents of a small town in India, Canadian college students, parents in Hong Kong – they found that individuals are more successful savers if they identify and work toward a single goal. Setting multiple, competing goals – college, retirement, summer vacation, a new kitchen, and the Christmas fund – was less effective and even counterproductive.

“When people have multiple goals, they cannot decide which one is more important,” said author Min Zhao, whose paper with Dilip Soman is forthcoming in December’s Journal of Marketing Research. “They say, ‘I cannot decide. Maybe I’ll just do this later, and I might not do anything.’ ” …Learn More