Pay or nudge employees into change? A theoretical and experimental investigation of the effect of nudging for organizational change

Organizational change often fails due to employees' resistance resulting in unforeseen expenses, delays, or other disruptions organizations. In our experiment, we compare behavioral interventions—a pro-change default rule and a recommendation—with costly pay raise foster supportive behavior. regard the pure nudge used (default), support its effectiveness enhancing change-related success. line with model based on assumption of low decision confidence settings, find that preference (recommendation) lacks corresponding effect. addition, has positive effect is likely be triggered by reciprocity. If this materialize, report supporting evidence for negative We sizes these nudges provide insights relative cost-effectiveness such compared organizational change. conclude managerial implications.