The Effects of Group and Individual Monetary Incentives on Productivity of Telephone Interviewers

Abstract

The relative effectiveness of three types of monetary incentive contingencies was estimated among telephone research company employees. Six college-aged telephone interviewers (5 females, 1 male) participated in the study. The baseline condition consisted of monetary rewards being delivered to the top performer(s) of each shift. In one experimental condition, individuals were paid monetary incentives if their performance rate exceeded a standard rate set by the supervisor. In the other experimental condition, individuals were paid monetary incentives if their group's performance met or exceeded a group performance standard set by the group's supervisor. Effects of incentive contingencies on interviewer completion rates were investigated by varying participants' exposure to experimental and baseline incentive conditions within a multi-element design. Results indicated that both individual and group incentives produced a greater number of call completions per hour compared to call completions observed under the baseline incentive contingencies while the highest productivity rates were observed under the individual incentive contingencies.