The Motivating-Uncertainty Effect: Uncertainty Increases Resource Investment in the Process of Reward Pursuit
Shen first author. Four studies of the motivating-uncertainty effect. In the first, 87 students drank water for either a certain 2 dollars or an uncertain draw of 1 or 2 dollars, so the uncertain reward was worth less: 70 per cent finished under uncertainty against 43 per cent under certainty. In an auction, uncertainty raised willingness to pay during actual bidding but lowered it in advance statements, which the authors give as the boundary of their own effect.
Shen first author. Four studies of the motivating-uncertainty effect. In the first, 87 students drank water for either a certain 2 dollars or an uncertain draw of 1 or 2 dollars, so the uncertain reward was worth less: 70 per cent finished under uncertainty against 43 per cent under certainty. In an auction, uncertainty raised willingness to pay during actual bidding but lowered it in advance statements, which the authors give as the boundary of their own effect.
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Shen, L., Fishbach, A., & Hsee, C. K. (2015). The Motivating-Uncertainty Effect: Uncertainty Increases Resource Investment in the Process of Reward Pursuit. Journal of Consumer Research, 41(5), 1301-1315.