IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orisre/v32y2021i2p301-317.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Combating Procrastination on Massive Online Open Courses via Optimal Calls to Action

Author

Listed:
  • Ni Huang

    (C. T. Bauer College of Business, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204)

  • Jiayin Zhang

    (School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, 100084 Beijing, China)

  • Gordon Burtch

    (Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455)

  • Xitong Li

    (École des hautes études commerciales de Paris (HEC Paris), 78350 Jouy-en-Josas, France)

  • Peiyu Chen

    (W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287)

Abstract

Massive online open courses (MOOCs) are a booming phenomenon in the digital era, having attracted millions of users around the world to date. At the same time, educational delivery via MOOCs comes with distinct difficulties for students and instructors because the online nature of MOOCs creates every opportunity for digital distraction and procrastination. In this work, we consider that the digital nature of MOOCs and online learning management systems (LMSs) may also offer unique opportunities to counteract procrastination. Building on the temporal motivation theory, this study examines a number of calls to action (CTAs) pertaining to the completion and submission of course assignments, with an eye toward combating student procrastination on MOOCs. We report on the results of a randomized field experiment on a leading MOOC platform in China. By randomly treating MOOC users with different CTAs related to active course assignments, we seek to examine the impacts of alternative informational interventions on students’ time to completion and probability of on-time assignment submission. We consider multiple types of CTAs: a simple CTA, a deadline reminder, descriptive norm interventions (communicating peer assignment completion rates), and a simple CTA combined with a financial incentive. We find that descriptive norms lead to higher probabilities of assignment completion and a shorter time to completion. In contrast, we find that the deadline reminder has a surprisingly counterproductive effect. Subsequently, exploring heterogeneity in the response to our different interventions—considering factors such as course load, education level, and user tenure on the MOOC platform—we find evidence that the deadline reminder in particular can backfire if students’ active course load is low. This result suggests that students with low course loads may perceive the deadline to be distant, which reduces their sense of urgency and leads to complacency. We discuss the implications of our findings for both research and practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Ni Huang & Jiayin Zhang & Gordon Burtch & Xitong Li & Peiyu Chen, 2021. "Combating Procrastination on Massive Online Open Courses via Optimal Calls to Action," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 32(2), pages 301-317, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:32:y:2021:i:2:p:301-317
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.2020.0974
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/isre.2020.0974
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/isre.2020.0974?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Roland G. Fryer, 2011. "Financial Incentives and Student Achievement: Evidence from Randomized Trials," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(4), pages 1755-1798.
    2. Dan Ariely & Anat Bracha & Stephan Meier, 2009. "Doing Good or Doing Well? Image Motivation and Monetary Incentives in Behaving Prosocially," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(1), pages 544-555, March.
    3. Radhika Santhanam & De Liu & Wei-Cheng Milton Shen, 2016. "Research Note—Gamification of Technology-Mediated Training: Not All Competitions Are the Same," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(2), pages 453-465, June.
    4. Bamberg, Sebastian, 2002. "Implementation intention versus monetary incentive comparing the effects of interventions to promote the purchase of organically produced food," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 573-587, October.
    5. Burger, Nicholas & Charness, Gary & Lynham, John, 2011. "Field and online experiments on self-control," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 393-404, March.
    6. Stephen Machin & Sandra McNally & Olmo Silva, 2007. "New Technology in Schools: Is There a Payoff?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(522), pages 1145-1167, July.
    7. Eric P. Bettinger, 2012. "Paying to Learn: The Effect of Financial Incentives on Elementary School Test Scores," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 94(3), pages 686-698, August.
    8. Yan Chen & F. Maxwell Harper & Joseph Konstan & Sherry Xin Li, 2010. "Social Comparisons and Contributions to Online Communities: A Field Experiment on MovieLens," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(4), pages 1358-1398, September.
    9. Matthew Gentzkow, 2014. "Trading Dollars for Dollars: The Price of Attention Online and Offline," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(5), pages 481-488, May.
    10. Milkman, Katherine L. & Beshears, John & Choi, James J. & Laibson, David & Madrian, Brigitte C., 2012. "Following through on Good Intentions: The Power of Planning Prompts," Working Paper Series rwp12-024, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    11. Patrick J. Bateman & Peter H. Gray & Brian S. Butler, 2011. "Research Note ---The Impact of Community Commitment on Participation in Online Communities," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 22(4), pages 841-854, December.
    12. Akerlof, George A, 1991. "Procrastination and Obedience," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(2), pages 1-19, May.
    13. Allcott, Hunt, 2011. "Social norms and energy conservation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(9-10), pages 1082-1095, October.
    14. Jaehwuen Jung & Ravi Bapna & Joseph M. Golden & Tianshu Sun, 2020. "Words Matter! Toward a Prosocial Call-to-Action for Online Referral: Evidence from Two Field Experiments," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(1), pages 16-36, March.
    15. Dorothy E. Leidner & Sirkka L. Jarvenpaa, 1993. "The Information Age Confronts Education: Case Studies on Electronic Classrooms," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 4(1), pages 24-54, March.
    16. Noah J. Goldstein & Robert B. Cialdini & Vladas Griskevicius, 2008. "A Room with a Viewpoint: Using Social Norms to Motivate Environmental Conservation in Hotels," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(3), pages 472-482, March.
    17. Ted O'Donoghue & Matthew Rabin, 1999. "Incentives for Procrastinators," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 114(3), pages 769-816.
    18. Paul J. Ferraro & Michael K. Price, 2013. "Using Nonpecuniary Strategies to Influence Behavior: Evidence from a Large-Scale Field Experiment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(1), pages 64-73, March.
    19. Dean Karlan & Margaret McConnell & Sendhil Mullainathan & Jonathan Zinman, 2016. "Getting to the Top of Mind: How Reminders Increase Saving," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(12), pages 3393-3411, December.
    20. Abhijit V. Banerjee & Esther Duflo, 2014. "(Dis)organization and Success in an Economics MOOC," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(5), pages 514-518, May.
    21. Gerber, Alan S. & Green, Donald P. & Larimer, Christopher W., 2008. "Social Pressure and Voter Turnout: Evidence from a Large-Scale Field Experiment," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 102(1), pages 33-48, February.
    22. Saurabh Gupta & Robert Bostrom, 2013. "Research Note ---An Investigation of the Appropriation of Technology-Mediated Training Methods Incorporating Enactive and Collaborative Learning," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 454-469, June.
    23. Roland G. Fryer, 2011. "Teacher Incentives and Student Achievement: Evidence from New York City Public Schools," NBER Working Papers 16850, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Milkman, Katherine L. & Beshears, John Leonard & Choi, James J. & Laibson, David I. & Madrian, Brigitte, 2011. "Using Implementation Intentions Prompts to Enhance Influenza Vaccination Rates," Scholarly Articles 8057976, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    25. Anindya Ghose & Hyeokkoo Eric Kwon & Dongwon Lee & Wonseok Oh, 2019. "Seizing the Commuting Moment: Contextual Targeting Based on Mobile Transportation Apps," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(1), pages 154-174, March.
    26. Sam Ransbotham & Robert G. Fichman & Ram Gopal & Alok Gupta, 2016. "Special Section Introduction—Ubiquitous IT and Digital Vulnerabilities," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(4), pages 834-847, December.
    27. Hyeokkoo Eric Kwon & Hyunji So & Sang Pil Han & Wonseok Oh, 2016. "Excessive Dependence on Mobile Social Apps: A Rational Addiction Perspective," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(4), pages 919-939, December.
    28. Allcott, Hunt, 2011. "Social norms and energy conservation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(9), pages 1082-1095.
    29. Ni Huang & Gordon Burtch & Bin Gu & Yili Hong & Chen Liang & Kanliang Wang & Dongpu Fu & Bo Yang, 2019. "Motivating User-Generated Content with Performance Feedback: Evidence from Randomized Field Experiments," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(1), pages 327-345, January.
    30. David Laibson, 1997. "Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(2), pages 443-478.
    31. Susan Athey & Joshua S. Gans, 2010. "The Impact of Targeting Technology on Advertising Markets and Media Competition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(2), pages 608-613, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Keshav Agrawal & Susan Athey & Ayush Kanodia & Emil Palikot, 2023. "Digital interventions and habit formation in educational technology," Papers 2310.10850, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2024.
    2. Alvin Chung Man Leung & Radhika Santhanam & Ron Chi-Wai Kwok & Wei Thoo Yue, 2023. "Could Gamification Designs Enhance Online Learning Through Personalization? Lessons from a Field Experiment," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 34(1), pages 27-49, March.

    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. Damgaard, Mette Trier & Nielsen, Helena Skyt, 2018. "Nudging in education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 313-342.
    2. Yeomans, Mike & Herberich, David, 2014. "An experimental test of the effect of negative social norms on energy-efficient investments," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 187-197.
    3. Kast, Felipe & Meier, Stephan & Pomeranz, Dina, 2018. "Saving more in groups: Field experimental evidence from Chile," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 275-294.
    4. Fenella Carpena & Shawn Cole & Jeremy Shapiro & Bilal Zia, 2019. "The ABCs of Financial Education: Experimental Evidence on Attitudes, Behavior, and Cognitive Biases," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(1), pages 346-369, January.
    5. John A. List & James J. Murphy & Michael K. Price & Alexander G. James, 2019. "Do Appeals to Donor Benefits Raise More Money than Appeals to Recipient Benefits? Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment with Pick.Click.Give," NBER Working Papers 26559, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Gordon Burtch & Yili Hong & Ravi Bapna & Vladas Griskevicius, 2018. "Stimulating Online Reviews by Combining Financial Incentives and Social Norms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(5), pages 2065-2082, May.
    7. Beshears, John & Kosowsky, Harry, 2020. "Nudging: Progress to date and future directions," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 161(S), pages 3-19.
    8. Todd D. Gerarden & Richard G. Newell & Robert N. Stavins, 2017. "Assessing the Energy-Efficiency Gap," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1486-1525, December.
    9. Bonan, Jacopo & Battiston, Pietro & Bleck, Jaimie & LeMay-Boucher, Philippe & Pareglio, Stefano & Sarr, Bassirou & Tavoni, Massimo, 2021. "Social interaction and technology adoption: Experimental evidence from improved cookstoves in Mali," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    10. Rachel Croson & Nicolas Treich, 2014. "Behavioral Environmental Economics: Promises and Challenges," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 58(3), pages 335-351, July.
    11. Pinar Yildirim & Yanhao Wei & Christophe Bulte & Joy Lu, 2020. "Social network design for inducing effort," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 381-417, December.
    12. Matilde Giaccherini & David Herberich & David Jimenez-Gomez & John List & Giovanni Ponti & Michael Price, 2020. "Are Economics and Psychology Complements in Household Technology Diffusion? Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment," Natural Field Experiments 00713, The Field Experiments Website.
    13. Ghesla, Claus & Grieder, Manuel & Schmitz, Jan & Stadelmann, Marcel, 2020. "Pro-environmental incentives and loss aversion: A field experiment on electricity saving behavior," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    14. Brigitte C. Madrian, 2014. "Applying Insights from Behavioral Economics to Policy Design," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 663-688, August.
    15. Dur, Robert & Fleming, Dimitry & van Garderen, Marten & van Lent, Max, 2021. "A social norm nudge to save more: A field experiment at a retail bank," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    16. Kast, Felipe & Meier, Stephan & Pomeranz, Dina, 2012. "Under-Savers Anonymous: Evidence on Self-Help Groups and Peer Pressure as a Savings Commitment Device," IZA Discussion Papers 6311, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Gong, Jie & Liu, Tracy Xiao & Tang, Jie, 2021. "How monetary incentives improve outcomes in MOOCs: Evidence from a field experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 905-921.
    18. Paul Dolan & Robert Metcalfe, 2013. "Neighbors, Knowledge, and Nuggets: Two Natural Field Experiments on the Role of Incentives on Energy Conservation," Natural Field Experiments 00404, The Field Experiments Website.
    19. Brade, Raphael & Himmler, Oliver & Jäckle, Robert, 2022. "Relative performance feedback and the effects of being above average — field experiment and replication," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    20. Leonhard K. Lades & Ewa Zawojska & Robert J. Johnston & Nick Hanley & Liam Delaney & Mikołaj Czajkowski, 2022. "Anomalies or Expected Behaviors? Understanding Stated Preferences and Welfare Implications in Light of Contemporary Behavioral Theory," Working Papers 2022-20, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.

    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:inm:orisre:v:32:y:2021:i:2:p:301-317. 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: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    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.