Self-reported motivators, i.e., stated preferences for work incentives, have been examined extensively based on the assumption that they provide valuable information for the design of compensation systems. However, the extent to which these stated preferences match performance has been overlooked. I use a field experiment with sales representatives to examine whether a higher preference for an incentive leads to a greater performance effect when that incentive is introduced. Specifically, I examine whether ex-ante self-reported incentive preferences moderate incentive effects on ex-post objective performance. Using a setting in which sales representatives receive a fixed hourly rate, the between-subjects experimental manipulations add one of three incentive motivators: (a) money (i.e., monetary incentives in the form of cash bonuses), (b) feedback, or (c) recognition. My results show that being in the money condition (i.e., being eligible to win a cash bonus) leads to an increase in performance only for those who state a low preference for this incentive. Conversely, only those who state a high preference for feedback increase their performance when they are in the feedback condition. Finally, being in the recognition condition (i.e., being eligible to win an acknowledgement award) leads to an increase in performance regardless of the initially stated preference for this incentive.

自我报告的激励因素，即对工作激励的陈述偏好，已被广泛研究，其前提是他们为薪酬体系的设计提供了有价值的信息。但是，这些陈述的首选项与性能匹配的程度已被忽略。我与销售代表一起进行了实地实验，研究了引入激励措施时，对激励措施的更高偏好是否会带来更大的绩效效果。具体而言，我研究了事前自我报告的激励偏好是否对事后的激励影响适中客观表现。使用销售代表收取固定小时费率的设置，对象间的实验性操作会添加以下三种激励激励因素之一：（a）金钱（即，现金红利形式的货币激励），（b）反馈或（ c）认可。我的结果表明，处于金钱状态（即有资格赢得现金红利）只会导致那些对这种奖励的偏好较低的人提高绩效。相反，只有那些对反馈表示高度偏爱的人，才能在处于反馈状态时提高他们的表现。最终，不管最初表述的对此奖励的偏好如何，处于认可状态（即有资格赢得表彰奖励）会导致绩效提高。