The efficacy of incentives to motivate continued fitness-center attendance in college first-year students: a randomized controlled trial.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether fitness-center attendance established with the provision of weekly monetary incentives persisted after the discontinuation, or decreased frequency, of incentives.


METHODS
One hundred seventeen first-year college students participated during the 2011-2012 academic year.


METHODS
A randomized controlled trial with control, discontinued-incentive, and continued-incentive conditions was conducted. During fall semester, students in incentive conditions received weekly monetary payments for meeting fitness-center attendance goals. During spring semester, discontinued-incentive condition participants no longer received incentives, whereas continued-incentive condition participants received payments on a variable-interval schedule. ID-card attendance records tracked fitness-center attendance.


RESULTS
Goal completion decreased from 63% in the incentive groups during the fall semester to 3% in the discontinued-incentive condition, and 39% in the continued-incentive condition during the spring semester. There was not a significant interaction between condition and body mass index change, F(6, 332) = 0.67, p = .68.


CONCLUSIONS
Incentive discontinuation resulted in students no longer meeting fitness-center attendance goals. A variable-interval reward schedule better maintained attendance.
a Food and Brand Lab, Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management , Cornell University , Ithaca , New York.
Lizzy
L
Pope
Jean
J
Harvey
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D020446:Fitness Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006040:Goals; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D009511:New England; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult / Q000523:psychology