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Framing Social Comparison Feedback With Financial Incentives for Physical Activity Promotion: A Randomized Trial
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Framing Social Comparison Feedback With Financial Incentives for Physical Activity Promotion: A Randomized Trial

Mitesh S. Patel, David A. Asch, Roy Rosin, Dylan S. Small, Scarlett L. Bellamy, Karen Hoffer, David Shuttleworth, Victoria Hilbert, Jingsan Zhu, Lin Yang, …
Journal of physical activity & health, v 17(6), pp 641-649
01 Jun 2020
PMID: 32396866

Abstract

Life Sciences & Biomedicine Public, Environmental & Occupational Health Science & Technology
Background: Social comparison feedback is often used in physical activity interventions but the optimal design of feedback is unknown. Methods: This 4-arm, randomized trial consisted of a 13-week intervention period and 13-week follow-up period. During the intervention, 4-person teams were entered into a weekly lottery valued at about $1.40/day and contingent on the team averaging >= 7000 steps per day. Social comparison feedback on performance was delivered weekly for 26 weeks, and varied by reference point (50th vs 75th percentile) and forgiveness in use of activity data (all 7 d or best 5 of 7 d). The primary outcome was the mean proportion of participant-days achieving the 7000-step goal. Results: During the intervention period, the unadjusted mean proportion of participant-days that the goal was achieved was 0.47 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.38 to 0.56) in the 50th percentile arm, 0.38 (95% CI: 0.30 to 0.37) in the 75th percentile arm, 0.40 (95% CI: 0.31 to 0.49) in the 50th percentile with forgiveness arm, and 0.47 (95% CI: 0.38 to 0.55) in the 75th percentile with forgiveness arm. In adjusted models during the intervention and follow-up periods, there were no significant differences between arms. Conclusions: Changing social comparison feedback did not impact physical activity.

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Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
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