Feedback‐Driven Time Segmenting: The Effect of Feedback Frequency on Employee Behavior*

ABSTRACT How employees mentally break up or segment time likely influences key performance behaviors. Thus, it is important to understand how features of the work environment influence the mental time segments employees create. Consistent with my predictions, I provide evidence across four experiments that feedback systems can alter the way employees segment their work time—a process that I refer to as feedback‐driven time segmenting. Consistent with the theory of feedback‐driven time segmenting, the experiments demonstrate that more (less) frequent feedback leads employees to create smaller (larger) mental time segments. Furthermore, the results indicate that employees who create smaller mental time segments are less likely to find efficiencies at work, suggesting an unintended cost of increasing feedback frequency. However, I also find that employees with smaller mental time segments work with higher levels of effort intensity. Together, these experiments provide evidence that the economically meaningless time segments employees create can significantly influence their behavior. Consequently, firms and future researchers should carefully consider how features of the work environment influence the mental time segments employees create.