Coproduction encouragement can backfire: evidence from randomized controlled trials

Public organizations often seek to encourage citizens to coproduce public goods and services by providing knowledge, information, and other resources to support coproduction. However, in a randomized field experiment, we find that an encouragement–in the form of information–may lead to unintended perceptions among citizens of being controlled. This unfortunate side effect occurs primarily among less educated citizens. Based on insights from the experiment and psychological literature, we theorize that coproduction encouragements that employ an autonomy-supportive communication style (rather than a more controlling one) will decrease citizens’ perception of being controlled. Subsequently, we find support for this claim in a vignette experiment and partial support in an additional field experiment. The reduction in the perception of being controlled is again particularly evident among less educated citizens. These findings suggest that public organizations should be cautious about the communication style they adopt and that an autonomy-supportive style has advantages in avoiding unintended effects.