How deposits and lotteries increased short-term weight loss by 10 pounds
Abstract
Finding cost-effective approaches to achieve sustained weight loss has always been a challenge. At the Philadelphia VA Medical Centre, researchers introduced participants to behavioral economic concepts such as prospect theory, loss aversion, and regret, in order to effectively design a weight loss intervention program using financial incentives.
In comparison to the control group, the intervention group achieved a larger net weight loss of 9.2 lb at the end of 7 months. Ultimately, financial incentives based on behavioral economics were able to induce significant weight loss during the intervention, however, it was not sustained.
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Sources
Volpp, K. G., John, L. K., Troxel, A. B., Norton, L., Fassbender, J., & Loewenstein, G. (2008). Financial Incentive–Based Approaches for Weight Loss: A Randomized Trial. JAMA, 300(22), 2631. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2008.804
