Research

A field experiment (n = 683) at a large-scale event evaluating signaling mechanisms in volunteer management. Formal commitment significantly reduces no-shows and late cancellations but decreases overall shift completion; trust-based signals do not affect no-show rates but improve organizational efficiency by fostering earlier cancellations — highlighting the trade-offs between mandatory confirmation and relational signaling.

The central question of this study is to decompose the gender gap in confidence signaling that has been established by Exley and Kessler (2022) into its constituent channels, distinguishing intrinsic preferences and internalized gender norms from strategic adaptation to anticipated formal sanctions.