5 Results and Qualitative analysis
5.2 Distribution of chosen amounts
Figure 7 represents the amount chosen and the number of times that amount was chosen. If participants have used the information we would expect peaks around 95NT$ (from those who observed 62 %) around 125NT$ (The from the groups observing 50% and the groups without information) and around 155NT$ (from those who observed 38%)
In fact, we can see there are 4 distinct peaks.
In Taiwan, where the smallest bill is 100NT$, you might expect the first peak to have moved from 95NT$ to 100NT$ based on peoples preference for easy payouts and or round numbers. Participants seem to have discounted the observed information with their level of self interestedness.
By far the largest peak is at exactly 125NT$. This is to be expected since for people without specific information (scenario 1, 2 and 3) as well as for people who observed the 50% work done by their team member ( scenario 6 and 7), 125 NT$ is the equalitarian outcome. There are 18 participants from scenario 8 and 9 who choose to take 125NT$.
Figure 7 Distribution of Amounts Chosen
62% 50% 38%
20 30 40 50 60 70
Nr of participants
The third peak, which if people had fully used the information would appear at 155 NT$, is found at 150 NT$. This could again be due to the preference for round numbers.
It is interesting to see that nobody chose 160NT$ (the first round number higher than 155NT$) and that two participants (from scenario 2 and 6) took 200NT$ (the preferred amount for bills only)
Another observation is that the peaks on either side of the 125NT$ mark has moved closer to the middle than could be expected from the information alone. If this were significant, it would increase the strength of the predictions by the fairness models from paragraphs 2.3.1 and 2.3.2. Even in the presence of information about relative performance, participants do not like their payment to differentiate from the payment of the partner too much.
The tables for payouts per scenario, can be found in Appendix C
5.3 Effect of Social recognition.
Figure 8 shows the effect of social recognition on the amount chosen by dictators. We plot the chosen amount as a function of the equalitarian outcome. The lines in the plot are the best fit through the data. Although the fit is visibly poor, it appears that participants with social recognition have chosen more for themselves, rather than less. This is against hypothesis 2.
Rejecting all those participants who chose 250NT$ does not change this observation.
Figure 8 The effect of social recognition.
100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240
75 95 115 135 155 175
Equalitatian outcome
Amount Chosen
NO Social Recognition
5.4 Discussion
Even if we can see a trend that seems to confirm hypothesis 1 and negate hypothesis 2, we did not get near statistical proof for either hypothesis.
The first reason for this is the very low number of people who actually observed and or understood the progress bar. There are two paths for correcting this:
1) Further improve the layout and wording of the progress-bar.
2) Increase the number of people in those scenarios that use progress bars.
We may chose to remove scenario 6 and 7 and increase the number of people in scenario’s 4, 5, 8 and 9 since we may find support for hypothesis 1 even if there are only two levels of the progress bar available. As long as they are significantly different from the “no information”
scenario’s
1 2 3 4 5 8 9
Virtual team member's performance N.A.
Social recognition (MSN help account) No No Yes No Yes No Yes
Online search questions None All All All All All All
Distribution Question Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Equalitarian outcome ( NT$ ) 125 125 125 155 155 95 95
Scenario
No info. 38 % 62 %
Perhaps not finding significant support for hypothesis 2 can be explained from the implementation of social interaction. In our current experiment we have tried to avoid an implementation that links too much to either the information role or the reward role of social interaction. We must find ways to increase the influence of the interaction on the participants.
Two suggestions for this are:
1) Increase the effect of the implementation of the MSN account, by removing the option to ask questions to research staff in the room during the survey. The MSN account will then be the default way to ask questions or report problems for those scenario’s.
We must in this case put even more effort on general instructions, to avoid rising frustration levels in the scenarios without interaction.
2) Implement social interaction in two mutually distinguishable ways. One where we aim for the information effect, and one where we aim for the reward effect.
If we can observe significant difference between absence of social interaction on one side and either one or both of the implementations on the other side, we may learn something about what provides what clue to participants.
References
Albert, M., Güth, W., Kirchler, E., & Maciejovsky, B. (2007). Are we nice(r) to nice(r) people?—An experimental analysis. Experimental Economics, 10(1), 53-69.
Bardsley, N. (2008). Dictator game giving: altruism or artefact? Experimental Economics, 11(2), 122-133.
Bies, R. J., Moag, J. S. (1986). Interactional justice: Communication criteria of fairness.
Research on Negotiation in Organizations, Vol. 1(;), 43-55.
Bolton, G. E., & Ockenfels, A. (1998). Strategy and Equity: An ERC-Analysis of the Güth-van Damme Game. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 42(2-3), 215-226.
Bolton, G. E., & Ockenfels, A. (2000). ERC: A Theory of Equity, Reciprocity, and Competition. American Economic Review Vol. 90( Issue 1), p166-193, 128p.
Brockner, J., Konovsky, M., Cooper-Schneider, R., Folger, R., Martin, C., & Bies, R. J.
(1994). Interactive Effects of Procedural Justice and Outcome Negativity on Victims and Survivors of Job Loss. The Academy of Management Journal, 37(2), 397-409.
Camerer, C., & Thaler, R. H. (1995). Anomalies: Ultimatums, Dictators and Manners. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 9(2), 209-219.
Engelmann, D., & Strobel, M. (2004). Inequality Aversion, Efficiency, and Maximin Preferences in Simple Distribution Experiments. American Economic Review, 94 4, 857-869.
Fehr, E., & Schmidt, K. M. (1999). A Theory Of Fairness, Competition, and Cooperation*.
Quarterly Journal of Economics, 114(3), 817-868.
Grant, R. M. (1991). The resource-based Theory of competitive advantage. California Management Review, 33, 114-135.
Greenberg, J. (1987). Reactions to procedural injustice in payment distributions. Jounal of Applied Psychology, Vol 72(1)(Feb 1987), 55-61.
Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review(50), 370-396.
Ochs, J., & Roth, A. E. (1989). An Experimental Study of Sequential Bargaining. The American Economic Review, 79(3), 355-384.
Varian, H. R. (2005). Intermediate Microeconomics. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Vernon, L. S. (1962). An Experimental Study of Competitive Market Behavior. The Journal of Political Economy, 70(2), 111-137.
Von Neumann, J. (1928). Zur theorie der gesellschaftsspiele. Mathematische Annalen, 100(1), 295.
von Neumann, J., Morgenstern, O. (1944). Theory of Games and Economic behavior:
Princeton university press.
Appendix A: Survey Website
(Screen shots)
Appendix A (continued) Survey Website (Questions, English)
Welcome
Welcome back to this saved session.
You may now change language to your local language if so required and continue with the survey.
歡迎回到本問券。請選擇您的母語，
並繼續完成此份問券。
Explanation
The answers you are about to give in this survey will make more sense to us after we link them to your personality traits.
Before we start the information search questions, we would like to know a little bit about your personality where it concerns the way you handle information.
These questions, on the next 3 pages, are personal and mandatory.
~
Please fill them out to your best judgement, avoid giving socially desirable answers.
Please be reminded that this survey is done anonymous, your name is not recorded anywhere.
Offline information behavior
If I have a problem / Question ...
Please choose the appropriate response for each item:
Never Sometimes Usually Frequently Always
... I ask my friends / family ... I read a book / magazine ... I find an answer on-line
... I wait, problems solve themselves ... I check the bulletin board ( BBS )
Personality traits
Please read the following statements, then indicate how much they match your personality
Openness
Strongly
Disagree Disagree Somewhat
Disagree Neutral Somewhat
Agree Agree Strongly Agree
Disagree Disagree Somewhat
Disagree Neutral Somewhat
Agree Agree Strongly Agree I follow a strict
schedule
On-line information behavior Ranking Browsers
Please rank your favorite web browsers . Don't choose those you never use
Please number each box in order of preference from 1 to 5
• Internet Explorer
Please rank your favorite search engines . Don't choose those you never use
Please number each box in order of preference from 1 to 6
• Yahoo
Please rank your favorite web-portals Don't click those you never use.
Please number each box in order of preference from 1 to 6 Please number each box in order of preference from 1 to 6
• Startpagina.nlYahoo
• Yahoo
• MSN
• Apple startpage
• Excite.com
• Mail.com
Start information search
We will now start with the information search questions.
In the following pages we will ask you a number of trivia questions. We are not testing your knowledge and it is more than likely that you do not know the answer right away.
We will then ask you to find an answer to that question. You may use any written source available. Books, pocket dictionary, or in fact the whole internet. But please do not talk to others.
After you found an answer we would like to know how you came to your answer, how easy it was and how confident you are that the answer is correct.
Good Luck!
01 foreign language
What does the word Xenophobia mean ?
Please use any written source available to you at this moment to confirm the answer.
Then fill out the questions below
Please write your answer here:
Please indicate how you found the answer.
In my search engine
Please choose all that apply:
• I only used the top ranked link
• I could easily find the answer in that page.
• This was the first time i visited this webpage.
In my web-portal
Please choose all that apply:
• I could easily find the "clicks" I needed.
• I needed 3 or less clicks to find the answer.
• This was the first time I visited this webpage.
Please read the following statements about the answer you found on-line
Please choose the appropriate response for each item:
Disagree Somewhat
disagree Neutral Somewhat Agree Agree The answer was easy to find
I am confident the answer is correct I could also easily find the answer off-line I look for this type of information
frequently
02 Order Pizza
I Live near Taipei Main station and I am hungry for Pizza. What is the address and phone number of the nearest Pizza-hut.?
Address Phone number
I can get my pizza at :
Please indicate how you found the answer.
Please choose all that apply:
• I used an offline source
• I used a search engine
• I used a web portal
• You may copy paste the URL
In my search engine
Please choose all that apply:
• I only used the top ranked link
• I could easily find the answer in that page.
• This was the first time i visited this webpage.
In my web-portal
Please choose all that apply:
• I could easily find the "clicks" i needed.
• I needed 3 or less clicks to find the answer.
• This was the first time i visited this webpage.
Please read the following statements about the answer you found on-line
Please choose the appropriate response for each item:
Disagree Somewhat
disagree Neutral Somewhat Agree Agree The answers were easy to find
03 Exhange rate
For every 1 US$ I can buy (exactly) NT$
please use any written source available to you at this moment to find the answer.
Then fill out the questions below
Please indicate how you found the answer.
Please choose all that apply:
• I used an offline source
• I used a search engine
• I used a web portal
• You may copy paste the URL
In my search engine
Please choose all that apply:
• I only used the top ranked link
• I could easily find the answer in that page.
• This was the first time I visited this webpage.
In my web-portal
Please choose all that apply:
• I could easily find the "clicks" I needed.
• I needed 3 or less clicks to find the answer.
• This was the first time I visited this webpage.
Please read the following statements about the answer you found on-line
Please choose the appropriate response for each item:
Disagree Somewhat
disagree Neutral Somewhat Agree Agree The answer was easy to find
I am confident the answer is correct I could also easily find the answer off-line I look for this type of information
frequently
04 Buying Books
I am looking for an older book: "Games People Play", by Eric Berne M.D.
Where can I get it, and how much does it cost?
The book can be bought at for (dollars)
Please indicate how you found the answer.
Please choose all that apply:
• I used an offline source
• I used a search engine
• I used a web portal
• You may copy paste the URL
In my search engine
Please choose all that apply:
• I only used the top ranked link
• I could easily find the answer in that page.
• This was the first time i visited this webpage.
In my web-portal
Please choose all that apply:
• I could easily find the "clicks" i needed.
• I needed 3 or less clicks to find the answer.
• This was the first time i visited this webpage.
Please read the following statements about the answer you found on-line
Please choose the appropriate response for each item:
Disagree Somewhat
disagree Neutral Somewhat
Agree Agree I buy books on line frequently
05 Directions
Which main highway connects Amsterdam and Maastricht (in the Netherlands)?
Please write your answer here:
Please indicate how you found the answer.
Please choose all that apply:
• I used an offline source
• I used a search engine
• I used a web portal
• You may copy paste the URL
In my search engine
Please choose all that apply:
• I only used the top ranked link
• I could easily find the answer in that page.
• This was the first time i visited this webpage.
In my web-portal
Please choose all that apply:
• I could easily find the "clicks" i needed.
• I needed 3 or less clicks to find the answer.
• This was the first time i visited this webpage.
Please read the following statements about the answer you found on-line
Please choose the appropriate response for each item:
Disagree Somewhat
disagree Neutral Somewhat Agree Agree The answer was easy to find
I am confident the answer is correct I could also easily find the answers off-line I look for this type of information
frequently
06 Schoolwork
I am writing a report for my biology class. What is the birth date of the inventor of penicillin?
Please enter a date: (YY / MM / DD)
Please indicate how you found the answer.
Please choose all that apply:
• I used an offline source
• I used a search engine
• I used a web portal
• You may copy paste the URL
In my search engine
Please choose all that apply:
• I only used the top ranked link
• I could easily find the answer in that page.
• This was the first time i visited this webpage.
In my web-portal
Please choose all that apply:
• I could easily find the "clicks" i needed.
• I needed 3 or less clicks to find the answer.
• This was the first time i visited this webpage.
Please read the following statements about the answer you found on-line
Please choose the appropriate response for each item:
Disagree Somewhat
disagree Neutral Somewhat Agree Agree I use internet a lot to do my homework.
07 The movies
There is this movie I really want see recently:
Please go find a location, a time and a price for a ticket this evening around 20:00.
Location Time Ticket price
Please indicate how you found the answer.
Please choose all that apply:
• I used an offline source
• I used a search engine
• I used a web portal
• You may copy paste the URL
In my search engine
Please choose all that apply:
• I only used the top ranked link
• I could easily find the answer in that page.
• This was the first time i visited this webpage.
In my web-portal
Please choose all that apply:
• I could easily find the "clicks" i needed.
• I needed 3 or less clicks to find the answer.
• This was the first time i visited this webpage.
Please read the following statements about the answer you found on-line
Please choose the appropriate response for each item:
Disagree Somewhat
disagree Neutral Somewhat Agree Agree The answer was easy to find
I often go to this theater
I usually buy movie tickets on-line I prefer movies in my own language
Administrative Message Control group
In the previous round of the survey we did not have enough capacity. Your group drew the lucky number and is exempt from filling out the questions.
, but you can still collect your reward.
The next page will be a final question for administrative purpose
~~~~~~~
Ratio Question
Thank you. Your team has successfully completed this survey. We will deliver the reward to each team member as indicated on your instruction sheet.
Since you are the final person in your team to answer the questions, we leave it up to you to share the reward with your team member.
Your personal reward will be put in a closed envelope and the envelope will be given to you in exchange for the ID card. Please bring the ID card we have given you, as it is the only way we can identify you.
Your team has earned 250NT$
Please choose how much we should give you and your team member.
HIM: 220 YOU : 30
• (Drag the slider: HIM <--- to the left to the right ---> YOU)
Don't forget to have your ID-paper chopped by the survey assistant.
Help us get better
You have finished the survey
Finally, please help us make this survey better.
If you know it, please tell us how much of the survey was completed by your team member before you.
Please write your answer here: %
Please read the following statements about the survey you just finished *
Please choose the appropriate response for each item:
Totally
disagree 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Totally Agree The procedure for filing out this survey were
clear and easy.
The questions about my personality were clear
and easy.
The reward my team got is fair for about half
an hours work each.
The questions about information search were
clear and easy.
I think the internet is easier to use for people
who speak English.
I worry about my privacy when filling out this
survey.
I have never had more fun filling out a survey.
I have some comments about this survey:
Apendix B: Participant Instructions (Dutch)
Welkom bij de tweede ronde van dit onderzoek.
We proberen te begijpen hoe taal en kultuur de manier waarop we informatie zoeken en vinden op internet beinvloeden.
Dit onderzoek:
We voeren een enquête met willekeurige, virtuele teams. In de eerste ronde, (21 en 22 April), heeft een groep Taiwanese studenten hun deel van de enquête met goed gevolg afgerond. Die antwoorden zijn opgeslagen onder een willekeurig toegewezen ID-nummer en paswoord.
Vandaag is de tweede ronde. Jij zal willekeurig worden gekoppeld aan een van de opgeslagen sessies. Jullie beiden, hoewel je elkaar nooit zult ontmoeten, vormen du seen virtueel team met verschillende kulturele achtergrond en met een verschillende moerstaal.
Sommige vragen zijn voor jullie beiden gelijk, andere zijn dat niet. Bovendien krijgt niet elk team dezelfde vragen.
De vragen zullen worden gesteld in je eigen taal, en dienen indien mogelijk ook in je eigen taal te worden beantwoord.
Procedure:
Je “team maatje” heeft zijn ID-nummer aan de onderkant van dit formulier geplakt, en heeft kopie ervan met zich meegenomen. Zijn antwoorden zijn reeds door ons geverifieerd.
Zoek alstjeblieft een computer in de zaal, open je favoriete browser en surf naar http://ntu.c-hosting.nl/ Vervolgens selecteer je de “information search” survey.
Onderaan de pagina vindt je de <onafgemaakte enquete laden> knop. Op de pagina die volgt vul je het nummer dat je onderaan dit formulier vind in. Paswoord is gelijk aan ID-nummer.
Zorg er voor dat de taal ingesteld is op je eigen taal indien dat niet reeds is gedaan.
Waneer er in de enquête wordt gevraagd een antwoord online te vinden, open dan een nieuw browser window. Je mag hiervoor je favoriete browser gebruiken (IE, Firefox...) LET OP. Sluit niet het window waarin de enquête draait.
Beloning:
Nadat je de laatste vraag hebt ingevuld, wordt je verzocht dit formulier door de assistant te laten afstempelen. Je weet dan ook gelijk hoeveel je precies krijgt. De belonging krijg je echter pas nadat iedereen klaar is met de enquete. Een medewerker zal het bedrag in een envelop stoppen waarop ook je ID-nummer is gedrukt.
In de week van 6/25 ~ 7/2 kun je die envelope ophalen op vertoon van dit formulier.
Wij bieden een anonieme enquête en we vragen in ruil daarvoor dat je niets uit deze enquête verteld aan anderen tot ten minste 6/25.
YOUR ID NUMBER AND PASSWORD 您的帳號及密碼
(Chinese)
請在本電腦教室中找個位置，打開瀏覽器，連到 http://ntu.c-hosting.nl/ ，然後選擇 ''information search'' 問卷。
YOUR ID NUMBER AND PASSWORD 您的帳號及密碼
Apendix C: Tables
Table 2 Distrubution of chosen amounts
( Figure 7)
Amount Nr of times
100 1
112 1
120 4
124 1
125 65
126 1
130 2
134 1
140 1
145 1
150 7
155 2
170 1
200 2
220 1
249 1
250 8
56
Table 3 Participants behavior in numbers 123456789 Control verage amount chosen139.9145.0141.2127.4143.5148.3130.4163.8125.0132.0 TDEV40.238.766.87.938.737.622.055.50.036.4 r of participants indicate having observed formation875648 f whom used the information (chose ore or less than 125 NT$)4403 umber of participants took more than opulation average24431451501 umber of participants took less than opulation average78699661181013 umber of participants that took more an the expected amount43112171012 ook how much more than expected mount (average over participants this enario) [NT$]2027310106393030 r of participants that took 100% of team ward [250 NT$]8110110301 Population NO INFO38 %50 %62 %
Scenario