IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jobhdp/v167y2021icp101-113.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The divergent impact of reward magnitude on goal eagerness and effort investment

Author

Listed:
  • Jin, Liyin
  • Xu, Qian
  • Wang, Yajin
  • Zhang, Ying

Abstract

When attempting to motivate an individual, does increasing the magnitude of the reward always have a positive impact on one’s effort investment? Through six experiments, we demonstrate that although individuals working for a large (vs. small) reward are more eager to commence the task (Studies 1–5) and more likely to persist when encountering an opportunity to terminate the pursuit (Study 2), the intensity of their effort investment in the goal remains relatively unchanged regardless of the magnitude of the reward (Studies 1–5). The insensitivity of effort investment to the magnitude of the reward disappears in the following contexts: when the participants are reminded of the reward size during the goal striving phase (Study 3), when individuals make a plan prior to commencing the task (Study 4), and when a partial reward is allocated to each goal-directed action (Study 5). This divergent impact appears because the psychological processes and information that govern pre-initiation goal eagerness may differ from those that control post-initiation effort investment.

Suggested Citation

  • Jin, Liyin & Xu, Qian & Wang, Yajin & Zhang, Ying, 2021. "The divergent impact of reward magnitude on goal eagerness and effort investment," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 101-113.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:167:y:2021:i:c:p:101-113
    DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2021.08.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749597821000819
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.obhdp.2021.08.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rajagopal, 2014. "The Human Factors," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Architecting Enterprise, chapter 9, pages 225-249, Palgrave Macmillan.
    2. Dugar, Subhasish, 2010. "Nonmonetary sanctions and rewards in an experimental coordination game," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 73(3), pages 377-386, March.
    3. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    4. Vancouver, Jeffrey B. & Putka, Dan J., 2000. "Analyzing Goal-Striving Processes and a Test of the Generalizability of Perceptual Control Theory," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 334-362, July.
    5. Heath, Chip, 1999. "On the Social Psychology of Agency Relationships: Lay Theories of Motivation Overemphasize Extrinsic Incentives," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 25-62, April.
    6. Sun, Shuhua & Vancouver, Jeffrey B. & Weinhardt, Justin M., 2014. "Goal choices and planning: Distinct expectancy and value effects in two goal processes," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 125(2), pages 220-233.
    7. Mead, N.L. & Baumeister, R.F. & Gino, F. & Schweitzer, M.E. & Ariely, D., 2009. "Too tired to tell the truth : Self-control resource depletion and dishonesty," Other publications TiSEM c60167a3-c3aa-4b83-9192-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    8. Ran Kivetz & Oleg Urminsky & Yuhuang Zheng, 2006. "The Goal-Gradient Hypothesis Resurrected: Purchase Acceleration, Illusionary Goal Progress, and Customer Retention," Natural Field Experiments 00658, The Field Experiments Website.
    9. Hoelzl, Erik & Loewenstein, George, 2005. "Wearing out your shoes to prevent someone else from stepping into them: Anticipated regret and social takeover in sequential decisions," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 15-27, September.
    10. Fishbach, Ayelet & Choi, Jinhee, 2012. "When thinking about goals undermines goal pursuit," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 118(2), pages 99-107.
    11. Ying Zhang & Szu-Chi Huang, 2010. "How Endowed versus Earned Progress Affects Consumer Goal Commitment and Motivation," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(4), pages 641-654, December.
    12. Huang, Szu-chi & Jin, Liyin & Zhang, Ying, 2017. "Step by step: Sub-goals as a source of motivation," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 1-15.
    13. Riedel, James A. & Nebeker, Delbert M. & Cooper, Barrie L., 1988. "The influence of monetary incentives on goal choice, goal commitment, and task performance," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 155-180, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Baek, Tae Hyun & Yoon, Sukki, 2020. "Looking forward, looking back: The impact of goal progress and time urgency on consumer responses to mobile reward apps," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    2. Silverman, Jackie & Barasch, Alixandra P. & Small, Deborah A., 2023. "Hot streak! Inferences and predictions about goal adherence," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    3. Dolan, Paul & Galizzi, Matteo M., 2015. "Like ripples on a pond: Behavioral spillovers and their implications for research and policy," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 1-16.
    4. Kanfer, Ruth & Chen, Gilad, 2016. "Motivation in organizational behavior: History, advances and prospects," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 6-19.
    5. Bilgihan, Anil & Barreda, Albert & Okumus, Fevzi & Nusair, Khaldoon, 2016. "Consumer perception of knowledge-sharing in travel-related Online Social Networks," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 287-296.
    6. Goswami, Indranil & Urminsky, Oleg, 2021. "Don’t fear the meter: How longer time limits bias managers to prefer hiring with flat fee compensation," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 42-58.
    7. Jia Guo & Yusak Susilo & Constantinos Antoniou & Anna Pernestål Brenden, 2020. "Influence of Individual Perceptions on the Decision to Adopt Automated Bus Services," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-13, August.
    8. Donmez, Birsen & Matson, Zannah & Savan, Beth & Farahani, Ellie & Photiadis, David & Dafoe, Joanna, 2014. "Interruption management and office norms: Technology adoption lessons from a product commercialization study," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 741-750.
    9. Ketelaar, Paul E. & Bernritter, Stefan F. & van Woudenberg, Thabo J. & Rozendaal, Esther & Konig, Ruben P. & Hühn, Arief Ernst & Van Gisbergen, Marnix S. & Janssen, Loes, 2018. "“Opening” location-based mobile ads: How openness and location congruency of location-based ads weaken negative effects of intrusiveness on brand choice," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 277-285.
    10. Oguz YILDIZ & Hakan KITAPCI, 2018. "Exploring Factors Affecting Consumers¡¯ Adoption of Shopping via Mobile Applications in Turkey," International Journal of Marketing Studies, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 10(2), pages 60-75, June.
    11. Antonio Paone & Jean-Philippe Bacher, 2018. "The Impact of Building Occupant Behavior on Energy Efficiency and Methods to Influence It: A Review of the State of the Art," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-19, April.
    12. Chen Wei, 2021. "The influence of Consumers’ Purchase intention on Smart Wearable Device: A study of Consumers in East China," International Journal of Science and Business, IJSAB International, vol. 5(8), pages 46-72.
    13. Park, Sohyeon & Kim, Kacy & Park, Seolwoo & Choi, Yung Kyun & Yoon, Sukki, 2023. "Cancel anytime!: How easy cancellation options enhance purchase intentions for services that require long-term commitments," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    14. Fan-Osuala, Onochie & Zantedeschi, Daniel & Jank, Wolfgang, 2018. "Using past contribution patterns to forecast fundraising outcomes in crowdfunding," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 30-44.
    15. Roberto PATUELLI & Enrico SANTARELLI & Annie TUBADJI, 2020. "Entrepreneurial intention among high-school students: the importance of parents, peers and neighbors," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 10(2), pages 225-251, June.
    16. Gutt, Dominik & von Rechenberg, Tobias & Kundisch, Dennis, 2020. "Goal achievement, subsequent user effort and the moderating role of goal difficulty," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 277-287.
    17. Tobias Mutter & Dennis Kundisch, 2014. "Goals as Reference Points: Empirical Evidence from a Virtual Reward System," Working Papers Dissertations 19, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    18. Changsok Yoo & Shinhye Kwon & Hyunsoo Na & Byenghee Chang, 2017. "Factors Affecting the Adoption of Gamified Smart Tourism Applications: An Integrative Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-21, November.
    19. Zhou, Fei & Zhang, Na & Mou, Jian & Zhang, Qin, 2024. "Fueling user engagement in virtual CSR co-creation with mental simulation: A cognitive appraisal perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    20. Ali Saleh Alshebami, 2021. "The Influence of Psychological Capital on Employees’ Innovative Behavior: Mediating Role of Employees’ Innovative Intention and Employees’ Job Satisfaction," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:167:y:2021:i:c:p:101-113. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/obhdp .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.