The gig economy has grown substantially in recent years, and the question of how to motivate workers in this new work context has become more pressing. Through a series of three field experiments, we find that communicating an organization’s business goals or Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals can positively influence gig workers’ willingness to help the organization on unpaid extra work. Communicating either business or DEI goals yields similar impacts, but communicating both simultaneously does not provide additional benefits. Moreover, enhanced communication of DEI goals may backfire, revealing a potential downside of such communications. The findings highlight the importance of strategic goal communication in the gig economy and shed light on a potential boundary condition of such communications. Additionally, our work offers practical implications to organizations, suggesting how they should tailor their messaging to promote engagement without inadvertently diminishing motivation.
