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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 5, 2025

The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies
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The token undermining effect: When and why adding a small reward to a dated outcome makes it less preferred.

Cheng-Ming Jiang1, Li-Na Chen1, Qian Luo1

  • 1School of Management, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China.

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Adding a small token to a smaller, sooner reward can paradoxically decrease its appeal. This "token undermining effect" highlights potential pitfalls in consumer marketing strategies.

Keywords:
attention allocationbackfireintertemporal choicemere token strategytoken undermining effect

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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Economics
  • Consumer Psychology
  • Decision Science

Background:

  • The mere token strategy, offering a small additional reward, is common in marketing to boost option attractiveness.
  • Previous research has not fully explored potential negative consequences of this strategy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the 'token undermining effect', where adding a token to a sooner, smaller reward (SS) decreases preference for it.
  • To identify boundary conditions and underlying psychological mechanisms of this effect.

Main Methods:

  • Six experimental studies were conducted across diverse choice sets and participant groups.
  • Mouse cursor tracking was employed to analyze attention allocation during decision-making.
  • Varied reward amounts, delays, outcome properties, and incentivized/non-incentivized scenarios were tested.

Main Results:

  • The token undermining effect was consistently observed, reducing preference for the SS option.
  • The effect's persistence was confirmed across various experimental conditions, with a key boundary being the token's shared nature with the original option.
  • Mouse tracking revealed that tokens shifted attention towards reward magnitude over delay, diminishing SS preference.

Conclusions:

  • The mere token strategy can backfire, reducing the attractiveness of the intended option.
  • Marketing professionals and policymakers should exercise caution when implementing token-based incentives.
  • Understanding attention allocation is crucial for predicting consumer responses to reward structures.