Can Losing Leads to Winning?

Berger, Jonah A.; Pope, Devin G.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1305316

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Can Losing Leads to Winning?

26 Pages Posted: 24 Nov 2008 Last revised: 4 Jan 2012

See all articles by Jonah A. Berger

Jonah A. Berger

University of Pennsylvania - Marketing Department

Devin G. Pope

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business

Date Written: September 15, 2009

Abstract

Can losing during a competitive task motivate individuals and teams to exert greater effort and perform better overall? Analysis of over 45,000 collegiate and 18,000 professional basketball games illustrates that being slightly behind at halftime leads to a discontinuous increase in winning percentage. Teams that are losing by a small amount win approximately 2 (NCAA) and 6 (NBA) percentage points more often than expected. In the NBA, this psychological effect is roughly half the size of the proverbial home-team advantage. Additional experimental evidence corroborates the field test and casts doubt on alternative explanations.

Keywords: Competition, Motivation, Performance

JEL Classification: M2, M31

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Berger, Jonah A. and Pope, Devin G., Can Losing Leads to Winning? (September 15, 2009). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1305316 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1305316