Such a thing as Status Change Effect

Why is it that come December you’re likely to tell yourself ‘Okay, come the new year, I’ll put myself on a diet and exercise routine’. But at age 29, you’re likely to use dating sites and apps with a fervor that is explained by ‘I need to find someone before I turn 30’. Why is it that December makes you think of life 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 a threshold but 29 makes you look at your life 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 a threshold? Why do you look at 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵 after a landmark in one case and 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 before a landmark in another?

And stepping out of your own shoes and imagining how the world outside may treat you in the same scenarios, why is it that in December you can imagine this ad landing in my inbox ‘This new year pledge to push yourself, not your dreams. Join the Fresh Start Gym!’

But not this when you’re 29: ‘Get into dream shape before you turn 30. Join the Beach Body by 30 Gym’?

We all know about the Fresh Start Effect 🆕 (I follow the brilliant Katy Milkman on this) even when we may not know the term. It refers to our tendency to engage in aspirational behavior at certain points on the calendar, such as new years or birthdays.

But there’s a parallel tendency as well that maybe is less noticed. Like Get married by 30 OR Buy a house by 35 OR Be financially independent by 40. Where our focus is on changing an existing status, not so much our behavior. The way I see it, when you set yourself the goal of marrying by 30, you’re not really saying anything about what you’ll do differently once you’re married. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐮𝐧𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥.

One explanation for the urgency in these examples is that it is about one-time landmarks. Whereas fresh starts can be recurring. You only turn 30 once, but you’ll get January again. And that in the case of fresh starts you have the majority of a phase ahead of you for goal pursuit, but for status changes you’re approaching a deadline for goal achievement.

Now, advertisers seem very alive to fresh starts. But they don’t seem to bother as much about when we are approaching the end of a period of time and are driven by the urge to accomplish something before the close of that period.

Or do they? And if there’s research on this, what is it called–Status Change Effect?

Looking to hear from folks in marketing, advertising, consumer psychology or general enthusiasts.