Find Out Why People Prefer Pizza Over Money!

It is nice to feel appreciated. Praise and rewards always help motivate us. A surprising study revealed that they actually motivate workers more than money.

Duke University psychology professor Dan Ariely conducted a study and wrote about it in his book “Payoff: The Hidden Logic That Shapes Our Motivations.” Fox News reported on this.

To conduct the study, Ariely sent three out of four workers at a semiconductor factory in Israel messages at the start of the week that promised them specific rewards for assembling a prescribed number of chips each day.

One group was promised a “Well Done!” text message from the boss at the end of the week. Another group was promised a bonus of about $30. A third group was told they would get a voucher for a free pizza. A fourth group, roughly 25 percent of the workers, got no message and no offer

Then the participants were told to get to work.

So what motivation, if any, really works?

During the beginning of the week-long experiment, free pizza came out first, showing a 6.7 percent increase in productivity over the control group. A “Well Done!” saw a 6.6 percent increase. And money claimed a measly third place with just 4.9 percent over the control group.

But as the week finished up, money fell into last place, performing 13.2 percent worse than the control group.

We like to eat and we like pizza, so this makes a lot of sense. Who doesn’t love “free food” – even if you earned it? Pizza is extra delicious when you didn’t pay for it.

At the end of the week, the “Well done!” text edged out pizza. Money actually fell to last place – behind having no reward at all! People love praise and rewards more than money.

Ariely believes pizza would have won the entire competition if he was able to deliver it to their homes rather than give them a voucher for it. 

“This way,” he writes, “… we not only would give them a gift, but we would also make them heroes in the eyes of their families.”

As a former manager, I learned the pizza trick long ago. I am no longer managing, but whenever I have people come to work on my home, I order them pizza. Praise and food are the best motivators!

Please share this if you love pizza!

H/T: Fox News