On being the tipping point: Social threshold incentives motivate behavior

Abstract

We document the impact of making a consumer the tipping point whose behavior causes some aggregate behavior to tip over a social threshold, increasing the impact of all others who have already engaged in a target behavior. In study 1, consumers were more likely to agree to get a blood screening when they were the tipping point who caused an incentive to exceed a threshold. Study 2 shows that being the tipping point can be more effective in changing behavior than equivalent-in-value incentives for the self. Studies 3A and 3B demonstrate that sense of impact on and obligation toward fellow actors—in contrast to similar feelings toward recipients—drives consumers’ increased likelihood of action near social thresholds. Finally, study 4 further shows that visually highlighting precisely how actions benefit fellow actors increases the effectiveness of threshold incentives.