Fear of Not Being Attractive Motivates People to Go to the Gym

Those impressive muscles are not continuously worked out to 'stay big' because the 'owner' wants them like that, but actually because he/she's afraid that they may eventually look worse. A team at the University of Bath, UK, investigated 281 male and female subjects (62 % being gym users) to see what motivates them to keep going to the gym.

The subjects had to imagine both a case in which they could and one in which they could not keep up with a fitness program. Those asked to imagine a failure in keeping the program were more determined to continue training, as they feared being unattractive (85 %), while those required to imagine a success in getting fit became less motivated to keep on going to the gym (65 %), as they did not have the fear of being unattractive.

It appears that fear of failure is a powerful motivator for success, while success demotivates people. "How consumers see themselves in the future has a strong effect on how motivated they are to keep using a product or service", said lead research professor Brett Martin, of the University of Bath's School of Management.

"When people dwell on a negative future, fear motivates them, yet as they move away from their feared state - a flabby body, or a wrinkled skin - they become less motivated. At that point, marketers should take advantage of another insight of our study - that of motivating people with a more positive outlook."

Half of the subjects that were asked to have a positive image about their bodies succeeded in continuing the gym program, being motivated by that image (91 %), while failure demotivated them (just 57 % wanted to continue). "Once someone moves away from their "feared self" - in this case an unattractive body - because they are successful in the gym, they lose motivation, so highlighting thoughts of being unattractive is unlikely to work. But at that point, as they become more positive in their outlook, good marketing will build on this and suggest they can do even better. That type of motivation works for those with a positive outlook. However marketers should also be aware that those who are thinking positively will become discouraged if they don't see success.", said Martin.