In 1999, Deci, Ryan and Koestner meta-analysis of 128 studies on children and college students examined the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. The results of this study confirmed that tangible and expected rewards significantly undermined intrinsic motivation. In other words, tangible rewards have a significant and negative effect on intrinsic motivation for interesting tasks. These results confirmed Deci’s 1971 research and positioned themselves within a debate that took place in 1975 and 1976 and contribute to the development of Deci and Ryan’s Cognitive Evaluation Theory (1980, 1985). The undermining effect of extrinsic motivation on intrinsic motivation received attention in the organizational literature, but this attention quickly fades away for different reasons. Among them, the fact that many activities are not intrinsically interesting, which limits managerial implementation, and the fact that managers will have to focus on one or the other. As a result, Deci and Ryan rethought their work and developed the Self Determination Theory (1985) intended to address this issue.
Fifteen years after Deci and colleagues’ meta-analysis, Cerasoli and Nicklin Meta-Analysis on the predicting effects of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation on performance reiterated the central role of intrinsic motivation in performance. But this study emphasised above all, “in a crowding out” fashion, that intrinsic motivation was less important to performance when incentives were directly tied to performance and was more important when incentives were indirectly tied to performance”. In other words, intrinsic motivation predicted better quality of performance whereas incentives predicted better quantity of performance (Cerasoli, Christopher P., Jessica M. Nicklin, and Michael T. Ford (2014), ‟Intrinsic Motivation and Extrinsic Incentives Jointly Predict Performance: A 40-year Meta analysis,” Psychological Bulletin, 140 (4), 980–1008).
This debate on the combined effect of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations is now long-standing but led us, within the GAPSET lab, to ask the following question: To what extent do motivations interact in the salesperson engagement process and finally contribute to performance?
In other words, in a context that is no longer that of the 1970s and 1980s, where behaviours are changing with the arrival of new generations, what about the commitment of salespeople?
The final aim is therefore to identify the factors that improve performance, to quantify these effects and to predict their consequences.
To this end, a questionnaire was administered to a sample of 224 managers, sales reps, business developers and consultants of all nationalities.
Results
As presupposed, job engagement has a positive effect on performance (two different measurement scales were used, referred to here as “Performance” and “Results”). Nearly 14% of performance variance is explained by engagement. This is an important figure, as we know that engagement alone cannot explain performance: other factors also contribute, such as competence, commitment to objectives, etc.).
As suggested by Self-determination Theory, the main motivation driving engagement is intrinsic motivation, i.e. engaging in work for its own sake, with an effect (β) of 0.527 (p<0.001). Introjected extrinsic motivation or ego involvement, the fact of engaging to be recognized by others, has a smaller effect (β= 0.161, nearly significant with p= 0.021) and external extrinsic motivation a quite comparable effect (β= 0.170, p= 0.014). All the different types of motivation contribute to near 65% of the variance of salesperson engagement.
Interestingly, this study also reveals that external extrinsic motivation—such as working for monetary gain—has a significant negative moderating effect on outcomes (β = -0.230, p = 0.005).
These findings underscore the complex role of reward-based motivation, which can sometimes be counterproductive, and they support the relevance of Deci and Ryan’s original Cognitive Evaluation Theory.
In today’s increasingly VUCA world—characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity—where information, technology, and human behavior are evolving rapidly, traditional frameworks should be applied with caution. Adapting theories to specific contexts is challenging, which highlights the growing importance of developing the right cognitive skills.