Reward Choices: Experimental Evidence on Cognitive Task Performance

Liliana Dewaele, Eddy Cardinaels and Alexandra Van Den Abbeele

European Accounting Review, 2026, vol. 35, issue 1, 237-262

Abstract: This study examines the effect of a tangible reward choice in task settings that require varying levels of cognitive effort from participants. We employ a laboratory experiment in which we manipulate both the availability of a reward choice (i.e., participants either choose among a set of tangible rewards or they are assigned one), and task difficulty (i.e., a simple task versus a more cognitively demanding task). Drawing on insights from behavioral economics we predict that reward choice and task difficulty interact such that reward choice, compared to no reward choice, increases task performance more in cognitively demanding tasks than in simpler tasks. Our results are consistent with this prediction. Consistent with our theory, we find that reward choice, compared to no choice, enables individuals to align their reward selection with their preferences. This preference matching mediates the relationship between reward choice and task performance, but only in cognitively demanding tasks. We contribute to the literature on incentives by demonstrating that offering a choice of rewards can enhance task performance, particularly in tasks that require greater cognitive effort.

Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/09638180.2025.2504438 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:euract:v:35:y:2026:i:1:p:237-262

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/REAR20

DOI: 10.1080/09638180.2025.2504438

Access Statistics for this article

European Accounting Review is currently edited by Laurence van Lent

More articles in European Accounting Review from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().