Research on the persuasive power of money has focused on money's instrumental function, and thus addressed the question "What money does for people'. This dissertation, however, analyzed the persuasive effect of money by focusing on money's cognitive effects. In doing so, it addressed the question 'What money does to people'. I argued that besides money's instrumental value (i.e., money allows people to buy things), money has specific cognitive effects, whch ultimately determine whether money will change behavior in the intended way. I explored this notion in four empirical chapters. First, I argued that the persuasive power of money increases when financial incentives involve the prospect of losing, rather than gaining money. Specifically, financial incentives can be perceived as involving either the opportunity to gain or to lose money, depending on whether rewards involve ones own or new money (Chapter 2), and on how rewards are communicated (Chapter 3). Second, I argued that the persuasive power of money may be limited when the desire to obtain money is perceived to be in confict with competing goals. Specifically, the pursuit of money may be in confict with the goal to avoid taboo trade-offs (viz., trading privacy for money; Chapter 4), and with the goal to preserve a moral self-concept (Chapter 5). The main findings of the four empirical chapters are presented below, along with their practical and theoretical implications. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting