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From Wordle to workouts, streaks are powerful for connecting with customers鈥攂ut they come with unexpected risks for businesses.鈥�

What鈥檚 the craziest thing you鈥檝e ever done to keep a streak alive鈥攍ike language lessons on Duolingo, steps on a Fitbit or correct guesses on Wordle?

How about the guy in a bar whose daily workout streak was in danger of breaking, so he retired to a back room and did pushups for seven minutes before ordering another round?

It turns out that a streak may have as much value as whatever activity it is you鈥檙e doing, according to new research from Alix Barasch, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Colorado Boulder鈥檚 Leeds School of Business. And once those streaks are broken, people often abandon the activity.听

鈥淭he log comes to represent something more important to you鈥攊t becomes a goal in and of itself. You start to value that even as much as the behavior itself,鈥� she said.听

It鈥檚 true of tracking fitness and solving puzzles, but for Barasch, the genesis of this research thread came from a discussion in a brewery about the Untappd app, which allows users to log different beers they鈥檝e tried. She and her co-author, both PhD candidates at the time, wondered how the activity of logging the beer could impact users鈥� ability to persist in something they cared about.

鈥淐learly, drinking the beer is the more important part鈥攂ut the fact that we get utility from logging the beer is really interesting,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut if you miss it, if there鈥檚 any disruption in your log, you fall off the wagon.鈥澨�

There have been plenty of studies about goal seeking and gamification and their applications in business, but technology鈥攁 specialty of Barasch鈥檚鈥攊s putting ever more consumer data in the hands of companies, potentially changing how they can engage with their customers. Barasch鈥檚 work on streaks offers enticing possibilities for marketers, but they鈥檒l need to proceed cautiously, she said, especially when those streaks expire.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 a delicate balance when it comes to encouraging the right behavior,鈥� she said. 鈥淪ome companies will highlight a recent failure, maybe with a nudge to get you back on track. We found that kind of messaging typically doesn鈥檛 work, and that people will just drop off once their streaks are broken.鈥�

Unconventional marketing tactics

A different tactic can be nudging consumers in a different direction鈥攍ike offering a new goal, such as trying out a new language when their French streak breaks鈥攐r adjusting the time periods for goals to offer more opportunities to motivate users without breaking existing streaks.听

What excites Barasch and her co-author鈥擩ackie Silverman, of the University of Delaware鈥攁bout their findings is how strong their data are. The researchers didn鈥檛 settle for just surveys or hypothetical questions. They directly studied behaviors from different users鈥攚ho either maintained their streak in a language learning app, broke the streak through their own behavior or had their streak reset due to a glitch鈥攖o better understand the how those streaks keep users coming back, and where they go when they end.听

鈥淲e found people would switch to a new language when their streak broke, as opposed to building a new streak with the same language,鈥� Barasch said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like you stop learning when you stop logging, but people will divert their attention to new things because their record no longer represents them. That was a little crazy to us.鈥澨�

Also surprising was how far users were willing to go to maintain those streaks鈥攁nd how abetting companies can be. A few will allow you to 鈥渞epair鈥� a streak by taking your money or inviting you to watch advertising in order to keep a streak alive even when you鈥檝e missed a goal.听

That鈥檚 at least as eyebrow-raising as the guy doing pushups in the back of the bar.听

鈥淵ou鈥檙e talking about a direct source of money for the company for just a digital badge that is entirely inconsequential,鈥� Barasch said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 interesting because it鈥檚 no longer representative of a real streak, because you missed a day, but it鈥檚 still intact in the app, and that can be powerful for you.鈥澨�

If you鈥檙e nodding your head at that degree of obsession, Barasch can relate. In addition to logging brews on Untappd, some of her streaks have included Wordle (鈥渦ntil I lost鈥�) and TripAdvisor; these days, she鈥檚 more into apps that log the development milestones of her young daughter.

A focus on marketing and technology听

Her research on streaks is an outgrowth of her work on technology and marketing, which started when she was on a Fulbright scholarship in Macau. During her travels, she noticed how much more she enjoyed moments that she took photos of her experiences.听

鈥淚t affected my memories afterwards, in terms of revisiting my photos, and I thought it was so interesting to see how a digital camera had the potential to change our lives,鈥� she said. 鈥淭echnology changes the way we choose to engage with the world. Do I take a photo of this, or do I listen to the audio guide? That鈥檚 a concrete decision that changes your experience. I love thinking about those things.鈥澨�

So, too, do companies, especially as they develop a better appreciation for how to better use and monetize the attention of dedicated consumers who regularly log their behaviors.听

鈥淚 do see it as a win-win, because when consumers are engaging in logging and tracking, it鈥檚 usually because when they鈥檙e pushing themselves to accomplish something,鈥� Barasch said. 鈥淎nd for the companies, streaks get those consumers to come back, keep logging, keeping helping them do what they want to do鈥攁nd that engagement means money for the business.鈥�

was published in the April 2023 edition of the Journal of Consumer Research. , an assistant professor at the University of Delaware, is a co-author.

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