@article{7bec16a440ac40a99b51f01b94bbc1bf,
title = "The Performance Effect of Feedback Frequency and Detail: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Customer Satisfaction",
abstract = "This paper presents the results from a field experiment that examines the effects of nonfinancial performance feedback on the behavior of professionals working for an insurance repair company. We vary the frequency (weekly and monthly) and the level of detail of the feedback that the 800 professionals receive. Contrary to what we would expect if these professionals conformed to the model of the Bayesian decision maker, more (and more frequent) information does not always help improve performance. In fact, we find that professionals achieve the best outcomes when they receive detailed but infrequent (monthly) feedback. The treatment groups with frequent feedback, regardless of how detailed it is, perform no better than the control group (with monthly and aggregate information). The results are consistent with the information in the latest feedback report being most salient and professionals in the weekly treatments overweighting their most recent performance, hampering their ability to learn.",
keywords = "customer satisfaction, feedback, field experiment, incentives, performance, salience",
author = "{Casas Arce}, Pablo and Louren{\c c}o, {Sofia M.} and Mart{\'i}nez-Jerez, {F. As{\'i}s}",
note = "Funding Information: Accepted by Philip Berger. We thank Alberto Abadie, Larbi Alaoui, Ramji Balakrishnan, Javier Bartolom{\'e}, Seth Berry, Margaret Christ, Juanjo Ganuza, Gary Hecht, Chris Ittner, Michal Matejka, Katherine Miller, Andrei Shleifer, Sriram Somanchi, two anonymous referees, and seminar participants at the AAA Annual Meeting, Arizona State University-University of Arizona Workshop, Carnegie Mellon University, IAP Cambridge Research Symposium, GMARS, IE Business School, Midwest Summer Research Conference, MAS Midyear Meeting, North-western University, Temple University Accounting Conference, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, University of Notre Dame, and University of Toledo for helpful comments. Sofia M. Lourenc¸o gratefully acknowledges financial support from FCT— Fundac¸{\~a}o para a Ci{\^e}ncia e Tecnologia (Portugal), research grant PTDC/EGE-GES/119607/2010 (national funding), and Pablo Casas-Arce from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation research grants MINECO ECO2011-28965 and MINECO ECO2014-59225-P. All errors are our own. Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright}, University of Chicago on behalf of the Accounting Research Center, 2017",
year = "2017",
month = dec,
doi = "10.1111/1475-679X.12184",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "55",
pages = "1051--1088",
journal = "Journal of Accounting Research",
issn = "0021-8456",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",
number = "5",
}