The effect of context‐specific versus nonspecific subconscious goals on employee performance
研究在呼叫中心通过潜意识启动（照片）激发员工成就动机，发现情境特定目标比一般性目标更能提升筹款绩效，对管理实践有参考价值。
Abstract We investigated the effect of context‐specific versus general subconscious goals on job performance in a call center. Employees (n = 54) were randomly assigned to a condition where they were primed by (a) a photograph of people making telephone calls in a call center, (b) a woman winning a race, or (c) a control group. Job performance was measured by the (1) number of and (2) monetary value of pledges from donors. None of the participants in the two experimental conditions showed conscious awareness of a prime. Analysis of variance indicated that both a subconscious context‐specific and a subconscious general goal aroused the implicit need for achievement as assessed by a projective measure, the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). Both types of primed goals led to a significant increase in the number of pledges during a four‐day workweek. Consistent with goal‐setting theory, employees in the context‐specific condition raised more money than those in the general achievement (one‐tailed t‐test) and control (two‐tailed t‐test) conditions. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.