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  • 2020
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

On the Failure to Seek Beneficial Information: The Problem with Inconspicuous Incentives

By: Leslie K. John, Hayley Blunden, Katherine L. Milkman, Luca Foschini, Francesca Gino and Bradford Tuckfield
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:62 
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Abstract

Managers and policymakers regularly rely on incentives to encourage valued behaviors. While often successful, there are also notable and surprising examples of their ineffectiveness. Why? Perhaps they are not sufficiently conspicuous. In support of this account, in a large-scale field experiment and laboratory study, we show that even when incentives are transparently provided and easily trackable in real time, failing to make them conspicuous renders incentives ineffectual at shifting behavior. Further, we show that inconspicuous incentives are ineffective in part because people fail to seek information on how to improve their outcomes despite being informed that such information exists and even when it can be obtained at the mere click of button. Finally, we show that people fail to appreciate potential beneficiaries’ apparent lack of interest in obtaining incentive information, a result suggesting that purveyors of incentive programs may under-invest in promoting them.

Keywords

Incentives; Field Experiment; Behavior; Motivation And Incentives; Management; Information

Citation

John, Leslie K., Hayley Blunden, Katherine L. Milkman, Luca Foschini, Francesca Gino, and Bradford Tuckfield. "On the Failure to Seek Beneficial Information: The Problem with Inconspicuous Incentives." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 16-090, February 2016. (Revised January 2020.)
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About The Authors

Leslie K. John

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

Francesca Gino

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
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  • Pal’s Sudden Service—Scaling an Organizational Model to Drive Growth By: Francesca Gino, Gary P. Pisano and Alexander Rohe
  • Scaling Well by Doing Good: Motivating Talent at b.good By: Francesca Gino, Gary P. Pisano and Alexander Rohe
  • Why Connect? Moral Consequences of Networking with a Promotion or Prevention Focus By: F. Gino, T. Casciaro and M. Kouchaki
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