So, People Like Pizza More Than Money

Remember in elementary school when you had to bring in canned goods for a fundraiser? And the classroom that brought the most canned goods in was rewarded with a pizza party? Those were the days.

Or how about in high school when the class with the highest AP United States history scores got rewarded with some boxes of cheese and pepperoni?

It's almost like we as humans were conditioned to love pizza from the beginning. But of course, it doesn't stop there. Pizza has been used as a motivator in countless situations. Let's say you help your friend moving. Instead of paying you, they treat you to pizza. Your boss wants you to stay late. They tell you and your fellow aggravated coworkers, "I'm going to order some pizza!," to raise everyone's mood a bit. 

It's no secret that everyone loves pizza. Earlier this year, it was even voted as America's favorite comfort food. So it really shouldn't come as a huge surprise that people like pizza more than money. A study by Dan Ariely, a psychology professor at Duke University concluded that workers are more motivated by pizza instead of money. 

Ariely came to this conclusion by sending messages to workers at an Israeli semiconductor factory after they hit their target goals. The messages either were a voucher for a free pizza, a $30 cash bonus, or a compliment from their boss. (Something like "Keep up the good work! Well done! I really liked what you did this week!") Their productivity was measured by the number of computer chips each worker would assemble everyday. 

You'd think money would be the main motivator, considering you can buy quite a few pizzas with $30, however...pizza took the crown.

The group that received pizza vouchers increased their productivity by 6.7%, the compliment group increased their productivity by 6.6%, and the money group increased their productivity by 4.9%. 

Despite the fact you can buy pizza with your money, people were significantly more motivated by pizza than money. The lesson we can all learn from this? Buy your employees pizza!

Now, we're curious to know what kind of pizza would motivate people the most. Thick crust, thin crust, french bread, deep dish? Pepperoni, cheese, sausage hawaiian, vegan, meat lovers? That is a study we'd be interested in.