March 18, 2015
New York Times January 3, 2015 had a research article that suggested when you set a goal “in-the-present time period” (this year, or this month, or this week), the more likely you will be to start working towards that goal.
Better results were obtained when you set your new years resolution in January (in the year you want to reach your goal) rather than in December. In another example it was found that people were more likely to start working on a task whose deadline was in the current month.
So What? People are more likely to act on a goal when they perceive themselves to be in the present or to have the “in-the-present feeling”.
What Now? For higher response consider using the current perceived time period of the consumer. When running a contest think about having the closing date before the end of the year. The expiry date for coupons could be before the end of the month. Weekly specials could end at the end of the week. Remember these are guidelines and there may be exceptions.
If you have any other uses for this research, please pass them along.