Jump Start Hypothesis

Just as physical objects exhibit inertia (i.e., bodies in motion [rest] tend to stay in motion [rest] — Newton’s first law), we posit that individuals who have begun a task (vs. not begun) are more likely stay engaged in it. In study one, individuals who believed they were in motion with (vs. preparing to begin) a task showed higher motivation when pursuing a subsequent task. In study two, participants in motion [rest] enjoyed the same piece of music more when it was framed as energetic [relaxing], exhibiting inertial tendencies. Study three illustrates that individuals use this property of inertia in self-regulation.



Citation:

Sunaina Chugani, Rajagopal Raghunathan, and Ying Zhang (2009) ,"Jump Start Hypothesis", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 36, eds. Ann L. McGill and Sharon Shavitt, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 979-979.

Authors

Sunaina Chugani, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
Rajagopal Raghunathan, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
Ying Zhang, The University of Texas at Austin, USA



Volume

NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 36 | 2009



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