A Little Too Personal: Effects of Standardization versus Personalization on Job Acquisition, Work Completion, and Revenue for Online Freelancers

TL;DR

This paper investigates how standardization and personalization in communication strategies affect online freelancers' success in acquiring jobs, completing projects, and earning revenue, highlighting the importance of tailored approaches at different project stages.

Contribution

It provides an empirical analysis of the heterogeneous effects of standardized versus personalized communication strategies on freelancer outcomes across project stages.

Findings

Standardization increases job acquisition in early stages.

Personalization enhances project completion and earnings.

Effects vary depending on project phase and worker strategy.

Abstract

As more individuals consider permanently working from home, the online labor market continues to grow as an alternative working environment. While the flexibility and autonomy of these online gigs attracts many workers, success depends critically upon self-management and workers' efficient allocation of scarce resources. To achieve this, freelancers may develop alternative work strategies, employing highly standardized schedules and communication patterns while taking on large work volumes, or engaging in smaller numbers of jobs whilst tailoring their activities to build relationships with individual employers. In this study, we consider this contrast in relation to worker communication patterns. We demonstrate the heterogeneous effects of standardization versus personalization across different stages of a project and examine the relative impact on job acquisition, project completion, and earnings. Our findings can inform the design of platforms and various worker support tools for the gig economy.