Now or Never: Why Do Many New Year’s Resolutions Fail? 

It’s an annual ritual – come January 1st, nearly half of Americans set New Year’s resolutions aimed at self-improvement, yet research suggests only about 9% report achieving their ambitious January 1 goals. What explains the gap between good intentions and lack of follow-through? Understanding these deeper human insights can strengthen strategies to meet consumers how and where they are. The Yale Center for Customer Insights looks to behavioral science to reveal why goal-setting abilities often miss the mark.

1. The Role of Instant Gratification
The phenomenon known as “hyperbolic discounting” demonstrates people’s tendency to choose more immediate, smaller rewards over longer-term gains. For resolutions, this manifests as favoring indulgent wants that provide instant satisfaction, despite intentions to pursue longer-term but possibly more beneficial goals that require sustained effort over months and years, like health, financial, or skills goals. 

2. Identity Attachment: Linking Goals to Self-Worth
Further, “identity attachment” research has shown that when resolutions feel like they define our self-worth, momentary setbacks can severely derail progress. Setback signals and diminished self-worth can disproportionately damage motivation and stall the momentum necessary to persevere on paths that require steadier, longer-range behaviors, as resolutions often tend to be.

3. The Gap Between Intention and Action 
Even though there are predictable roadblocks, people's underlying desire to better themselves remains, renewed with hope every new year and often overlooks the obstructions. Behavioral research around intentions to implement and actual goal achievement shows that proactively planning for situational cues to help along the way can be a game changer. Mapping simple if/then habits based around certain triggers can bridge the gap between intentions and actions when it comes to sticking with resolutions. 

Conclusion
While we’re all optimistic come January 1st, lasting behavior change remains elusive for most resolution-setters. As the behavioral research reveals - deep-rooted preferential biases, vulnerability to self-doubt, and follow-through planning gaps all undermine our best intentions. Yet within these insights lie opportunities. Brands resolving to apply science-backed strategies that motivate incremental progress, affirm self-belief, and trigger supportive habits are better positioned to nurture consumers steadily toward the better versions of themselves they aspire to become.

Interested in collaborating with us to uncover more insights into the drivers of consumer behavior? Reach out to us at ycci@som.yale.edu. Discover more insights from YCCI here.