Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Series: Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers
Creation-Date: 2016-06-06
Number: 16-045/VII
Author-Name: Christiane Bradler
Author-Workplace-Name: ZEW Centre for European Economic Research, Mannheim, Germany
Author-Name: Susanne Neckermann
Author-Workplace-Name: Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and ZEW Centre for European Economic Research, Mannheim, Germany
Title: The Magic of the Personal Touch: Field Experimental Evidence on Money and Appreciation as Gifts
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.
Classification-JEL: C93, M52
Keywords: gift exchange, reciprocity, personnel economics, gratitude, personal touch, field experiment
File-Url: https://papers.tinbergen.nl/16045.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 1028149 bytes
Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20160045