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Could a financial incentive help you lose weight?

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I saw a story on the news today about stickk.com, a new website that allows you to place a financial bet on your ability to lose weight, quit smoking, or kick any number of bad habits.

Let's say you want to lose 20 pounds. You sign up on the site, give them some money, and post your goal. If you reach your goal, you get the money back. If you fail to lose 20 pounds by the date specified, then the money goes to a person or charity designated by you. They even recommend designating the money for a charity you dislike so that the incentive is increased! You need to designate a person you know as your "referee" to confirm to the site that you have indeed accomplished your goal so you can't lie. You can also have the site send emails on your progress to your friends and family for more accountability and encouragement.

Does anyone think that this incentive would work for them? I'm seriously considering it. I'm nothing if not cheap.
 

mippus

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The money wouldn't do the trick for me, but maybe the mails on my progress would...
 

Economica

Dhampyr
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Does anyone think that this incentive would work for them? I'm seriously considering it. I'm nothing if not cheap.

Yes, this works (for some, at least), for the same reason that causes health clubs to make you commit to flat fee memberships instead of paying per visit: The incentive counteracts the so-called present bias that causes you to not want to do now what you would like yourself to do in general (such as exercise). Go for it! :yes:
 

nightning

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I saw a story on the news today about stickk.com, a new website that allows you to place a financial bet on your ability to lose weight, quit smoking, or kick any number of bad habits.

Let's say you want to lose 20 pounds. You sign up on the site, give them some money, and post your goal. If you reach your goal, you get the money back. If you fail to lose 20 pounds by the date specified, then the money goes to a person or charity designated by you. They even recommend designating the money for a charity you dislike so that the incentive is increased! You need to designate a person you know as your "referee" to confirm to the site that you have indeed accomplished your goal so you can't lie. You can also have the site send emails on your progress to your friends and family for more accountability and encouragement.

Does anyone think that this incentive would work for them? I'm seriously considering it. I'm nothing if not cheap.

No... why give a company money? For me... I hate to fail publicly. So the best way would be to announce to people that I'm going to do something. Make a small bet with people I know about carrying it out. The money doesn't matter... it's face. But that's me though... might not work for you. =]
 

ThatsWhatHeSaid

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FM, I use bets to motivate me for anything. The difference being that there's something to GAIN, in addition to something to lose. It doesn't even require that you give up the same thing, just that the considerations are equivalent (or that the odds are adjusted). For instance, you have to lose 10 pounds in 2 months while your friend, Uber, doesn't post on MBTIc.

Current bets: first one of my brother and I to smoke pot must pay the other $75; first two to drink or smoke between my 2 friends and I must pay $100. I'm thinking of giving up caffeine, too.
 

scantilyclad

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I don't think money is important enough to me for it to actually be an incentive.
My health and wanting to be around for a long time for my child is really the only thing that motivates me.
 

Grayscale

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i think people can be motivated by things external to the problem they are attempting to resolved for short periods of time, but in the long run the motivation needs to come from the willingness to sacrifice to solve the solution itself or it the motivation will be short lived

the problem with being overweight is that it unhealthy, the motivation to change should be founded in a sincere and strong desire to live a healthy life... that attitude is the commonality between people who are able to not only become healthy but stay healthy
 
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Metamorphosis

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At first glance, I would think it would work. But then I think...wait...health and looks wasn't enough...so probably not.

especially if they are just getting the money back that they put in
 

Athenian200

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I think it would work better if you got paid to do it rather than just getting the money back... but honestly, I've actually paid money to eat healthier so that I could lose weight before, so I don't know. Also, I think the trick is keeping weight off, not losing it in the first place.
 

alcea rosea

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Could a financial incentive help you lose weight?

No.
It's all about my own inner motivation that is needed.
 

Vortex

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I agree with Athenian.

Besides that, I don't think I'd like to go through weight loss in such a public manner. I'm willing to do almost everything if it's a bet, but some bets I wouldn't take in the first place. If someone did offer me cool cash to lose some weight in, say, a month, I think it would be a much greater incentive for me than actual health considerations. It would have to be a short-term project or goal before I'd be willing, though.
 

elfinchilde

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May help better to have friends who'd keep nagging you to watch your diet, an exercise companion, and such-like, rather than financial incentives. Nothing like peer pressure to instill discipline. Plus, there's the useful guilt factor that you wouldn't want to leave your exercise companion(s) shivering out in the wind, cold and dawn while you're snug in bed. :cheers:

PS: the incentive isn't an incentive, it's just return on capital.
 

Vortex

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I'd never even start if I had to have an exercise buddy. And certainly not if exercise took place in the morning. Why, that's why they invented exercise dvds - so you can look stupid in the comfort of your own home without anyone else around.
 

Economica

Dhampyr
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The money wouldn't do the trick for me

The money doesn't matter...

I don't think money is important enough to me for it to actually be an incentive.

Could a financial incentive help you lose weight?

No.

So why do you guys think long-term (i.e. committed) flat fee memberships are so common at health clubs? It's a competitive business most places, and a flat fee fails to discriminate between high-, medium- and low-use types, meaning that at a given flat fee, low-use types will not become members while high-use types will marvel at the low rent they pay for their "second home". If financial incentives make no difference to whether people work out, why don't they just all charge per visit instead?

FM, I use bets to motivate me for anything. The difference being that there's something to GAIN, in addition to something to lose.

I think it would work better if you got paid to do it rather than just getting the money back...

At first glance, I would think it would work. But then I think...wait...health and looks wasn't enough...so probably not.

especially if they are just getting the money back that they put in

... And why do you guys :)D) think it makes a difference whether the money that motivates you to work out used to be your own?

i think people can be motivated by things external to the problem they are attempting to resolved for short periods of time, but in the long run the motivation needs to come from the willingness to sacrifice to solve the solution itself or it the motivation will be short lived

May help better to have friends who'd keep nagging you to watch your diet, an exercise companion, and such-like, rather than financial incentives. Nothing like peer pressure to instill discipline. Plus, there's the useful guilt factor

I agree that moderate financial incentives are not enough in themselves to make people work out, but sometimes the intrinsic and other extrinsic incentives (and even the existing financial incentive in the form of the health clubs' flat fee payment schemes that I assume I'll be elaborating on in a later post) almost but not quite add up to action. In those cases, a bet can tip the scale and end up making all the difference in the world.

PS: I was planning to go for a run tonight but got caught up online and am now writing this instead. Oh, the irony... :rolleyes:
 

Metamorphosis

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So why do you guys think long-term (i.e. committed) flat fee memberships are so common at health clubs? It's a competitive business most places, and a flat fee fails to discriminate between high-, medium- and low-use types, meaning that at a given flat fee, low-use types will not become members while high-use types will marvel at the low rent they pay for their "second home". If financial incentives make no difference to whether people work out, why don't they just all charge per visit instead?

To be honest. I think that long term contracts and flat fees are so prevalent precisely because people -don't- go to the gym. If they did, and continued to do so, then they could just charge a regular monthly fee. Think New Year's Resolution time. Like 80% of people resolve to work out or eat healthy and most of them are done by the end of January. Flat fees work off of hope, and people's belief that it will entice them to continue working out. But in reality, it doesn't always work that way.

... And why do you guys :)D) think it makes a difference whether the money that motivates you to work out used to be your own?

There's a big difference between getting paid to work out and using my own money for collateral on my motivation.
 

Economica

Dhampyr
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To be honest. I think that long term contracts and flat fees are so prevalent precisely because people -don't- go to the gym. If they did, and continued to do so, then they could just charge a regular monthly fee. Think New Year's Resolution time. Like 80% of people resolve to work out or eat healthy and most of them are done by the end of January. Flat fees work off of hope, and people's belief that it will entice them to continue working out. But in reality, it doesn't always work that way.

Heh, that's the other of the two explanations currently prevalent in the literature. They're not mutually exclusive though; people likely both demand a mechanism to help them overcome their self-control problem and overestimate how much they will work out. I did both back when I started working out. Bridget Jones, only the latter to my knowledge. :D

There's a big difference between getting paid to work out and using my own money for collateral on my motivation.

What exactly is the difference though? (Once the bet is made, I mean.)
 

Metamorphosis

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What exactly is the difference though? (Once the bet is made, I mean.)

In retrospect (as in, I couldn't come up with a good explanation), there may not be much difference. Either way, really, I don't think either one is a good enough motivation for most people, unless you are talking about a sizeable amount of money (as in, more than a couple hundred). If people don't want to change, then they won't. People could be saving that money by eating healthy, rather than eating fast food, but they don't because they prefer the immediate gratification over money.

I remember hearing recently about the change in work ethics over generations. Baby boomers were about working hard. Some generation in between (maybe x, or hippies or something :D), didn't want to work at all. My generation is more than happy to work and work overtime, but only if they are compensated accordingly.
 

nightning

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So why do you guys think long-term (i.e. committed) flat fee memberships are so common at health clubs? It's a competitive business most places, and a flat fee fails to discriminate between high-, medium- and low-use types, meaning that at a given flat fee, low-use types will not become members while high-use types will marvel at the low rent they pay for their "second home". If financial incentives make no difference to whether people work out, why don't they just all charge per visit instead?
You're talking to a person who do not go to the gym whether they charge by flat rate or per visit. I don't need to lose weight. (I wouldn't mind gaining a couple pounds actually) I just need cardio / exercise which I can readily get elsewhere and cheaper.

Anyways, from the consumer's perspective... if you paid a monthly fee, you would want to use the facilities as much as you can. Perhaps that provides incentive to continue but that's only true if you buy the membership. Where is the financial incentive in buying the membership may I ask? It's not there... only your desire to lose weight/get fit motivates you to exercise and/or to join a club.

... And why do you guys :)D) think it makes a difference whether the money that motivates you to work out used to be your own?
Money would not motivate me to work out. Let just say somebody would pay me to workout... unless it's sufficient such that I don't need to work, or it's something that I don't mind doing in the first place. I'll say no. I have better things to do with my time.

Now for me to fork out money so I can get it back... I'm afraid that sounds absurd if you put it into a different context. Imagine you're betting on race horses... if you win, you get your money back... if you lose, you lose. Is there any reason for me to make a bet? No.

The motivation behind working out is your health, not money. I suppose I'm just not big on monetary incentives in general.

ps- I think I'll line up for Ben & Jerry's ice cream but not for $1 and some change ;)
 
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