Proposes that consumer psychology as an empirical social science cannot resolve the question of free will but can and should examine the antecedents and consequences of consumers' belief in free will.

Presents a theory of self-control by precommitment in consumer choice, along with a review of the literature.

Experimental evidence of sophisticates' (as opposed to naifs') insight into, and use of, precommitment strategies (i.e., self-imposed costly deadlines) to address their own procrastination self-control problems. Also shows performance benefits from self-inducing costly deadlines.

First empirical demonstration (using experimental, field, and market-level data) in the self-control literature of how consumers apply precommitment strategies to control their consumption of vice and virtue goods.