In a field experiment with 829 service technicians in 15 firms, we investigate whether providing a temporary incentive to engage in a novel task over a certain period of time leads to persistent behavior change. We randomly allocated half of the technicians in each firm to a treatment group who received bonuses for regularly performing sales activities for 12 weeks.
- Speaker
- Date
- Friday 13 Dec 2024, 12:00 - 13:15
- Type
- Seminar
- Room
- T3-32
- Building
- Mandeville Building
We find a significant increase in sales performance not only during but also after the incentive phase. Using a post-experimental survey we compare different behavioral channels. We find no evidence for increased automaticity, human capital acquisition, or signals about task priorities, but strong evidence for the role of acquired taste: Technicians in the treatment group report a significantly higher levels of intrinsic motivation not only for the sales activity but also for another customer-oriented task.
Joint work with Leo Grabe & Saskia Opitz.
About the speaker
Dirk Sliwka is a leading scholar in organisational and personnel economics. His studies include both empirical work (field experiments with firms, rich survey data) as well as theoretical work. His work has been published in among others American Economic Review, Management Science, AEJ: Micro, and Journal of Labor Economics.
Registration
If you are interested in booking a bilateral, or joining for lunch or dinner on Friday, please send an email to dur@ese.eur.nl.
