Abstract: Implementation intentions are the if–then plans that specify when, where, and how one will strive towards particular goals. During the past two decades, numerous laboratory and field experiments which conducted in this domain have found that the implementation intentions — a kind of prospective self-regulation strategy — were effective in promoting a wide variety of desired outcomes including laboratory cognitive task goal, health goals, and academic goals. The “if” component makes the cue accessibility highly active and the “then” component makes the response automatically implemented. The accessibility of both plan components (cue accessibility and cue–response linkage) mediates the impact of the if–then planning on goal attainment. Future research should be more conducted on the psychological mechanism. What’s more, more studies based on the Chinese culture are needed as they have important practical meaning in China.

Key words: goal intention, implementation intention, cue accessibility, automatically goal-directed response