Why Small Incentives Can Work Better Than Big Ones

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“Common sense suggests that one of the best ways to motivate behavior change is to offer sizable rewards. While bigger rewards can indeed motivate action, smaller rewards can be more effective at generating deeper, lasting change by inspiring larger shifts in favorable attitudes and positive emotions. Social psychologist Leon Festinger observed this phenomenon over half a century ago when he proposed his theory of cognitive dissonance. According to this theory, humans are inherently averse to the underlying psychological tension of conflicting drives. Did I just want that bonus, or do I really enjoy my job? Did I marry him for the money, or do I really love this guy? Did I buy this car because it’s cheaper, or because it’s better? To resolve this contradictory information, we feel compelled to expend a great deal of mental energy to reduce the discomfort of these inconsistencies. We do this by justifying our decisions and changing our previously held attitudes to be consistent with our new behaviors.

The more we conclude that our actions were driven by external rewards, the less likely we are to change our internal mindset. If the reward is bigger, we are more likely to conclude that we did it for the benefit of the reward itself. But if the reward is smaller, we are more likely to believe that we did it because we like it better and enjoy it more. We did it for its own sake, rather than what we’ll get out of it. This is the crucial difference between internal motivation and external manipulation. Psychologists call it intrinsic motivation and it’s the key to making people feel more satisfied with their choices and better about their experiences.

KEY POINTS

• Research has long shown that smaller rewards can be more effective in motivating deeper and lasting behavior change.
• Cognitive dissonance theory suggests that smaller incentives may work better because they are perceived as internally motivated.
• External rewards like big discounts and free prizes can undermine intrinsic motivation and the behaviors you seek to reinforce.”

Read the whole article at Psychology Today

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