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The Magic of the Personal Touch: Field Experimental Evidence on Money and Appreciation as Gifts

Author

Listed:
  • Christiane Bradler

    (ZEW Centre for European Economic Research, Mannheim, Germany)

  • Susanne Neckermann

    (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and ZEW Centre for European Economic Research, Mannheim, Germany)

Abstract

This paper makes use of two field experiments to explore individual effort responses to gifts. We extend the literature by looking at nonfinancial gifts and gifts that combine financial and nonfinancial elements with or without adding a ``personal touch.'' We find that non-pecuniary gifts that signal worker appreciation induce reciprocity. Most importantly, we find that there are interaction effects between money and appreciation. While money and appreciation are individually effective, they only work well together when they are combined with a personal touch. This points to the importance of interpersonal elements in gift giving and has important implications for how to effectively elicit worker effort.

Suggested Citation

  • Christiane Bradler & Susanne Neckermann, 2016. "The Magic of the Personal Touch: Field Experimental Evidence on Money and Appreciation as Gifts," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 16-045/VII, Tinbergen Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20160045
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    2. Vogelsang, Timo, 2023. "Leisure time, performance pay, and crowding-out," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    3. Toke R. Fosgaard & Adriaan R. Soetevent, 2018. "Promises undone: How committed pledges impact donations to charity," IFRO Working Paper 2018/03, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    4. Michael Kirchler & Stefan Palan, 2018. "Immaterial and monetary gifts in economic transactions: evidence from the field," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 21(1), pages 205-230, March.
    5. Hornuf, Lars & Jeworrek, Sabrina, 2018. "Crowdsourced innovation: How community managers affect crowd activities," IWH Discussion Papers 13/2018, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    6. Cao, Cangjian & Li, Sherry Xin & Liu, Tracy Xiao, 2020. "A gift with thoughtfulness: A field experiment on work incentives," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 17-42.
    7. Elif Incekara‐Hafalir & Raymond Kumar & Juliana Silva‐Goncalves, 2022. "The effect of payment medium on effort," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(3), pages 1111-1126, July.
    8. Eszter Czibor & Danny Hsu & David Jimenez-Gomez & Susanne Neckermann & Burcu Subasi, 2022. "Loss-Framed Incentives and Employee (Mis-)Behavior," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(10), pages 7518-7537, October.
    9. Fosgaard, Toke R. & Soetevent, Adriaan, 2018. "Promises Undone," Research Report 2018006, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    10. Simona Cicognani & Sebastian Stein & Mirco Tonin & Michael Vlassopoulos, 2023. "Symbolic incentives and the recruitment of volunteers for citizen science projects," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 75(4), pages 923-940.
    11. Incekara-Hafalir, Elif & Lee, Grace HY & Xiao, Erte, 2025. "Incentivizing participation with full completion: The Power of self-selected rewards," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    12. Lars Hornuf & Sabrina Jeworrek, 2018. "How Community Managers Affect Online Idea Crowdsourcing Activities," CESifo Working Paper Series 7153, CESifo.
    13. Wendenburg, Oriana, 2020. "The Effect of Gratitude on Individuals' Effort – A Field Experiment," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 5(4), pages 429-451.
    14. Wagner, Valentin, 2016. "Seeking risk or answering smart? Framing in elementary schools," DICE Discussion Papers 227, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).

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    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • M52 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Compensation and Compensation Methods and Their Effects

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