Financial incentives don't encourage us to get on the treadmill

Intervention · Salud

Abstract

Physical activity is a significant contributor to our health and wellbeing. To determine if using financial incentives effectively encouraged physical activity, adults were recruited to participate in a quasi-experimental study that compared the physical activity of individuals that were a part of a loyalty card incentivization program with individuals that were not. There were various types of incentives available for the iIncentive group, ranging from a free sandwich to a free gym membership. However, no significant difference was found at both the 12 week and 6 month mark for both groups ; the No-Incentive Group recorded 1.1 minutes more on average of physical activity a week at 12-weeks, and only 2.2 minutes less at the 6-month mark. 

Sources

  1. Grimshaw, J. (2000). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for evaluating guideline implementation strategies. Family Practice, 17(90001), 11S-16. https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/17.suppl_1.s11
  2. Incentives. (2021, October 7). The Decision Lab. https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/economics/incentives/#section-3
  3. Tuso, P. (2015). Strategies to increase physical activity. The Permanente Journal, 24(2). https://doi.org/10.7812/tpp/14-242
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