IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/jconrs/v46y2019i1p69-81..html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Fun and Function of Uncertainty: Uncertain Incentives Reinforce Repetition Decisions

Author

Listed:
  • Luxi Shen
  • Christopher K Hsee
  • Joachim H Talloen
  • Gita V JoharEditor
  • Amna KirmaniEditor
  • Stijn M J van Osselaer

Abstract

This research studies repetition decisions—namely, whether to repeat a behavior (e.g., a purchase) after receiving an incentive (e.g., a discount). Can uncertainty drive repetition? Four experiments, all involving real consequences for each individual participant, document a counterintuitive reinforcing-uncertainty effect: individuals repeat a behavior more if its incentive is uncertain than if it is certain, even when the certain incentive is financially better. This effect is robust; it holds in both lab and field settings and at both small and large magnitudes. Furthermore, the experiments identify two theory-driven boundary conditions for the reinforcing-uncertainty effect: the effect arises (a) only if the uncertainty is resolved immediately and not if the resolution of uncertainty is delayed, and (b) only after, not before, one has engaged in repetitions. These results support a resolution-as-reward account and cast doubt on other explanations such as reference-dependent preferences. This research reveals the hidden value of uncertain incentives and sheds light on the delicate relationship between incentive uncertainty and repetition decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Luxi Shen & Christopher K Hsee & Joachim H Talloen & Gita V JoharEditor & Amna KirmaniEditor & Stijn M J van Osselaer, 2019. "The Fun and Function of Uncertainty: Uncertain Incentives Reinforce Repetition Decisions," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 46(1), pages 69-81.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:46:y:2019:i:1:p:69-81.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jcr/ucy062
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

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

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Iñigo Gallo & Chadwick J Miller & Nasir Haghighi & Thomas D. Gilovich, 2024. "The differential impact of uncertainty on the evaluation of material and experiential purchases," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 187-203, June.
    2. Camilleri, Adrian R. & Dankova, Katarina & Ortiz, Jose M. & Neelim, Ananta, 2023. "Increasing worker motivation using a reward scheme with probabilistic elements," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    3. Shi, Haijiao & Chen, Rong & Xu, Xiaobing, 2021. "How reward uncertainty influences subsequent donations: The role of mental accounting," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 383-391.
    4. Aleksandra Kovacheva & Hristina Nikolova, 2024. "Uncertainty marketing tactics: An overview and a unifying framework," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 1-22, January.
    5. Sheng Bi & Jun Pang & Huan Chen & Andrew Perkins, 2024. "When feeling powerless, we crave nostalgia: The impact of powerlessness on the preference for nostalgic products," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 998-1017, July.
    6. Tang, Jiansheng & Zhou, Jiamin & Zheng, Chundong & Jiao, Sijing, 2022. "More expectations, more disappointments: Ego depletion in uncertain promotion," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    7. Brice Corgnet & Roberto Hernán González, 2023. "You Will not Regret it: On the Practice of Randomized Incentives," Working Papers 2314, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.
    8. Brice Corgnet & Roberto Hernán González, 2023. "On The Appeal Of Complexity," Working Papers 2312, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.
    9. Karl Akbari & Udo Wagner, 2021. "Playing When Paying and What Happens Next: Customer Satisfaction and Word-of-Mouth Intention in Gambled Price Promotions," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 73(2), pages 243-271, June.

    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:oup:jconrs:v:46:y:2019:i:1:p:69-81.. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://academic.oup.com/jcr .

    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.