Gen Y may have a better handle on cyberspace, but it’s awfully easy to get them to to blab their midemeanours with a little Twitterati trickery.
Snakes & Ladders picks up on the report by BusinessWeek in which Carnegie Mellon researchers posted two very different surveys online. One was a formal affair that promised confidentiality and was posted on a (fake) university website. The other had funny graphics and cartoons, with a devil cartoon and the header “How BAD are U?”
In the face of all this jollity, 50 per cent of respondents admitted to cheating on their taxes, while the formal site elicited the truth from just 25 per cent. Behavioural economist and the report’s co-author George Loewenstein suggests that confidentiality assurance acts as a red flag, reminding respondents that their responses could implicate them. The lighthearted and informal approach, meanwhile, blindsides them and gives them a (false, potentially) sense that it’s all in fun.
Aside from the big cautionary tale the research reveals — and the slightly sinister marketing alley it might lead someone down — there’s potential for this research to be used in recruitment and retention.
Employee surveys among Gen Y might be tailored to take a more informal approach. Is there a way a little informality could be built into recruitment, without, maybe, resorting to cartoons?
