Testing Theories of Goal Progress within Online Learning

• In Event: 6.14 Big Data Approaches to Consumer Behavior

Short Abstract

We use a large dataset on Coursera.com learners to test theories of how consumers progress towards goals. We find that consumption patterns are consistent with theories of goal gradient and resource slack, and use them to predict changes in behavior when content release shifts from weekly installments to on-demand.

Authors

• Tong Lu, University of Pennsylvania, USA

• Eric Bradlow, University of Pennsylvania, USA

• Wesley Hutchinson, University of Pennsylvania, USA