Goal Setting and Anchoring Effects on Meditation Using a Digital Platform: Large-Scale Digital Field Study

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Science
• Digital Health
• Mindfulness Studies

Background:

• Meditation adoption is rising, yet habit formation remains a challenge for many.
• Goal setting is a proven behavior change technique in health contexts, but its role in meditation is under-researched.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the link between goal setting and meditation frequency.
• To determine if anchoring bias in goal-setting questions affects meditation behavior.

Main Methods:

• A large-scale quasi-experimental field study involving 18,559 Spotify users.
• Participants optionally set 7-day meditation goals, with conditions varying response option order.
• An active control group did not set goals.

Main Results:

• Setting any goal showed a modest positive association with meditation days.
• Higher committed goals correlated with increased meditation frequency.
• Response option order influenced goal selection and meditation days, but also increased opt-out rates.

Conclusions:

• Optional in-app goal setting did not alter population-level meditation engagement.
• Among users who set goals, engagement modestly increased.
• An uptake-engagement trade-off exists, influenced by response option design.