When waiting pays off: The impact of delayed goal failure on self‐perception and self‐regulation

Consumers are often exposed to recurrent temptations that might threaten the achievement of their long‐term goals (e.g., savings, diet), and while they might initially resist the temptation, they may find that with the passage of time, they eventually indulge in the goal‐conflicting act. In such instances, does the ultimate goal failure undermine consumers' perceptions of self‐control, or does the mere act of delaying the goal transgression serve to buffer against negative self‐views? In the current research, we term delayed goal failure the sequence of events whereby a consumer initially resists a goal‐conflicting temptation, but upon subsequent exposure to the same temptation, follows through with the goal transgression. Our findings show that delayed (vs. immediate) goal failure allows consumers to maintain positive perceptions of self‐control, particularly when the cause of failure is unspecified (i.e., open to interpretation), allowing consumers to interpret their ultimate decision as thought‐through and justified. Finally, our findings reveal a positive downstream effect of delayed (vs. immediate) goal failure on subsequent self‐regulation, and identify positive perceptions of self‐control as the underlying driver of this effect.