Final answer:
In New Zealand, intrinsic rewards are likely more important to employee motivation compared to the United States, reflecting cultural differences in what drives employee satisfaction and performance.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question concerns what motivates employees in different cultural contexts, namely New Zealand and the United States. Based on the study by Deci et al. (1999), intrinsic rewards may have a stronger influence on employee motivation in New Zealand compared to the United States. Intrinsic rewards are the personal satisfaction and fulfilment that one gets from the work itself, such as enjoyment of the task, a sense of achievement, and professional growth.
Extrinsic rewards, such as financial gain, play a different role in motivation. These external factors can sometimes undermine intrinsic motivation if individuals expect to receive them. However, unexpected extrinsic rewards do not necessarily have this effect.
For example, if we apply this to the question of why Carl mows his neighbour's yard for $20, this would be seen as extrinsic motivation because the task is performed for an external reward. On the other hand, incentives that appeal to someone's concern about a cause, like purposive incentives, align more with intrinsic motivation since they satisfy personal values and beliefs.
Research also suggests that factors like autonomy and work content are more predictive of job satisfaction than financial rewards, indicating the importance of intrinsic factors in employee engagement.