Assigned versus Chosen Relative Performance Information: The Effect of Feedback Frequency on Performance

Abstract

ABSTRACTTechnological advancements have greatly improved the ability to provide relative performance information (RPI), including information systems capable of providing feedback on demand. We use an experiment to examine the effect of RPI feedback frequency on task performance when RPI is assigned by managers and when RPI is solicited by employees. When RPI is assigned to employees, we hypothesize and find a non-linear relationship between RPI frequency and performance such that an increase in frequency first increases and then decreases performance. In contrast, we hypothesize and find that when RPI is chosen by employees, the negative effect of highly frequent RPI on performance is not only mitigated, but reversed, due to individuals placing greater weight on chosen feedback than assigned feedback. We also find that when individuals choose to view RPI feedback, strategic effort (i.e., expending short-term resources for long-term benefits) mediates the relation between viewing RPI and subsequent performance.JEL Classifications: M10; M40; M41.Data Availability: Data available upon request.