A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine evaluated programs that encourage people to quit smoking, and in the most successful one, people earned monetary rewards. Smokers, who were organized into groups of six, could earn up to $2,000 each for quitting, depending on how many people in their group refrained from smoking. Ultimately the study resulted in more people quitting in the group with financial incentives than in the control group.
Similar studies have not always prompted the same results, but in most cases the monetary rewards were not as large. Other studies have found that complex behavior changes are difficult to make, even when people are motivated by a financial reward.
Monetary incentives have been used in various other studies regarding weight loss, addiction and treatment of chronic diseases.
Although financial motivation may work in some cases, studies show that once incentives are removed, people resort to their old behaviors.
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