Those findings resonate with John and Norton s research which demonstrates similarly powerful effects from applying behavioral economics principles to behavior change. In a study that John and several colleagues conducted on weight loss published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in participants were placed into one of three conditions—in the first case people merely promised to lose pounds a month in the second they wagered up to of their own money and if they lost the weight they got their money back along with matching funds.
In the third case participants were entered in a lottery that had a percent chance of winning —but they would only win if they had met their weight loss goal for the month. This enticement took advantage Chinese Overseas America Number Data of another behavioral economic principle People overestimate small probabilities a familiar truth to anyone who has ever bought a lottery ticket. On average people won but the possibility of winning was far more motivating than just giving people that says John. of another principle regret aversion. Just as people wish to avoid losing something they have they also try to avoid feeling regret for something they could have had. It s awful to think of the situation where you could have won but didn t says John.
The incentives worked—participants in the contract group and the lottery group lost an average of and pounds respectively after four months compared to only pounds in the first group. Moreover about half of the participants in each of the two incentive groups met their target goal of pounds compared to only percent of the control group. A Tool For Employers Given the success of these principles with individuals can they be used by companies to help employees meet their health and other goals Norton has been experimenting with one behavioral economic principle—social norming—in order to test incentives for employees in the workplace.