Good Signals, Bad Signals: Performance and Trait Implications of Signaling in Online Labor Markets

Extant literature has recently started to study “online labor markets”, online platforms “for individuals and organizations to quickly identify short-term workers” (Farrell et al. 2016, p. 1). In these platforms, freelancers are required to send diverse signals to reduce information asymmetry and attract new customers. Our research in progress is the first to explore how freelancers’ individual character traits may influence this signaling behavior and how different signals affect performance in online labor markets. Accordingly, we distinguish between different types of traits, such as neuroticism and openness to experience as well as different types of signals – those that are easy to fake (conventional signals) and those that are hard to fake (assessment signals). The analysis will be based on survey measures, objective measures and data from third-raters.