Publications
Publications
- May 2018
- Management Science
Incentives for Prosocial Behavior: The Role of Reputations
Abstract
Do monetary incentives encourage volunteering? Or, do they introduce concerns about appearing greedy and crowd out the motivation to volunteer? Since the importance of such image concerns is normally unobserved, the answer is theoretically unclear, and corresponding empirical evidence is mixed. To help counter this ambiguity, this paper proposes that the importance of image concerns—such as the desire to appear prosocial and not to appear greedy—relates to individuals' volunteer reputations. Experimental results support this possibility. Individuals with past histories of volunteering are less responsive to image concerns if their histories are public or if their prosocial tendencies are already known. Consistent with a decreased importance of appearing prosocial, they are less likely to volunteer. Consistent with a decreased importance of not appearing greedy, they are less likely to be discouraged by public incentives.
Keywords
Incentives; Image Motivation; Volunteer; Prosocial Behavior; Altruism; Gender; Reputations; Motivation and Incentives; Behavior; Perception; Reputation
Citation
Exley, Christine L. "Incentives for Prosocial Behavior: The Role of Reputations." Management Science 64, no. 5 (May 2018): 2460–2471.