The Impact of Commitment Contracts on Smoking Cessation and Weight Loss

We aim for two extensions beyond the existing literature on positive and negative incentives for smoking cessation and weight loss. First, we aim for a combination of positive and negative rewards but done in a revenue neutral format, thus making the approach more easily scalable. The primary treatment arm will include positive rewards that create sufficient incentives to encourage participation, while also using commitment contracts to generate an own-money loss-avoidance effect. And by doing this under a group context, a social aspect may further enhance the effectiveness of the approach. Second, we aim to do this under the umbrella of a user-friendly cellphone application or website, again with an aim to being more proximate to how such an approach could be launched without external funding.