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Opinion Article Sales & Marketing

The Double-Edged Sword of Instant Feedback in Our Hyper-Connected World

Cornell Research: On the Frequency and Detail of Feedback

An analysis of the effects of frequent and detailed feedback regarding customer satisfaction produced an unexpected outcome for a Spain-based firm. The firm created a bonus program that rewarded its contractors for favorable customer-satisfaction scores. To test the best way to offer feedback on the bonus program, the firm gave some contractors detailed reports on customer satisfaction, while others received only a summary report.

Pablo Casas-ArceAsís Martínez-JerezSofia Lourenço
By Pablo Casas-Arce, Asís Martínez-Jerez, and Sofia Lourenço

An analysis of the effects of frequent and detailed feedback regarding customer satisfaction produced an unexpected outcome for a Spain-based firm. The firm created a bonus program that rewarded its contractors for favorable customer-satisfaction scores. To test the best way to offer feedback on the bonus program, the firm gave some contractors detailed reports on customer satisfaction, while others received only a summary report. Then, the contractors were further divided according to whether they received frequent reports or only occasional reports. All contractors improved their operations, but the standout firms were those that received occasional detailed reports. Although the firm expected frequent feedback to be the most effective approach, it appears that it’s possible to pile on too much information too often, causing the recipient to make the wrong decision-making adjustments.

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Sales & Marketing
Pablo Casas-Arce
Pablo Casas-Arce
Associate Professor, Cornell

Pablo Casas-Arce is an associate professor at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, where he has been teaching Managerial Accounting and Control at the undergraduate and graduate levels (both in the Master of Accountancy and MBA programs).

Asís Martínez-Jerez
Asís Martínez-Jerez
Associate Professor, Cornell

Francisco de Asís Martínez-Jerez (Asís) joined the Cornell Nolan School in July 2020, after spending seven years at the University of Notre Dame and almost 20 years at Harvard Business School. In his research and consulting activities, Asís focuses on the design of customer centric organizations for performance.

Sofia Lourenço
Sofia Lourenço
Associate Professor, Cornell

Sofia Lourenço is an Associate Professor at ISEG, Universidade de Lisboa (Portugal), with a doctorate from Harvard Business School. Her teaching and research focus on how incentives and control systems affect the behavior of employees and managers in organizations.

Cornell
School-University

The Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration is the premier school for hospitality education in the world. As an integral part of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, the school is leading the world in teaching and researching the business of hospitality—marketing, finance, real estate, operations, and more, all applied to the world’s largest and most exciting industry.

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