A test of the impact of three-type goal orientation on utility perception and transfer motivation

Based on goal orientation theory, this paper aims to examine the mediating effect of utility perception on the relationships between three types of goal orientation and transfer motivation. The study applied a longitudinal field design with a total of 239 trainees from a technological institute in northern Taiwan and used AMOS 24 to examine the hypotheses. The findings show that learning goal orientation demonstrates the strongest impact on utility perception and transfer motivation. Learning goal orientation is the desired training trait, and utility perception is a critical factor in transfer motivation. If managers assert a given training program to be useful to trainees, then the anticipated training effect will likely be enhanced. The contribution of this study is its use of goal orientation theory to examine how three goal orientations affect transfer motivation through utility perception. Further, since there have been inconsistent results about the effect of proving goal orientation on training effectiveness, this study examines if there are significantly differences between learning goal orientation and proving goal orientation through statistical analysis. Third, by focusing on practitioners rather than students, this study indicates that utility perception is an important mediator between goal orientation and transfer motivation.