Event Abstract

Back to Event

Can commitment devices improve usage of online weight loss tools? A field experiment

Manu M. Savani1*
  • 1 University College London, Department of Political Science, United Kingdom

Background A commitment device is some voluntary, deliberate arrangement an individual makes in order to bind their future choices and influence their future behaviour, in pursuit of some long run benefit. This may take the form of a public pledge (reputational commitment) or some monetary cost (financial commitment) that encourages individuals to stay on track with their behaviour change goals. Commitment devices are widely applied in the health sector to bring about desired behaviour change such as weight loss, but their effects are largely unproven. Aims This paper asks whether commitment devices can increase the usage of an online weight loss tool to bring about more consistent self-monitoring of behaviours. Method An online field experiment tests the causal effects of commitment devices on weight loss. 364 participants were recruited from the client base of an online weight loss service over July – November 2013, and randomly assigned to one of three groups: limited commitment, financial commitment (monthly subscription fee) and reputational plus financial commitment (monthly fee plus naming one person who would verify their weight loss). The outcome variable is usage of the online account, measured by frequency of food journal and self-reported weight entries over a one-month period. Results The ‘limited commitment’ group use their accounts more frequently than the financial and reputational commitment groups. Being offered the reputational commitment reduces usage. These results run counter to the hypothesised relationship between a commitment strategy and behaviour change. Conclusion Commitment devices may be better characterised as a signal of some innate motivation at the time of take up, rather than a substantive instrument for behaviour change, on average. However, heterogeneity of treatment effects may play an important part in explaining how and when commitment devices are most effective. If commitment devices can work well for identifiable sub-groups, there may yet be a targeted role for them in the public policy toolkit.

References

Bryan, G., Karlan, D. & Nelson, S., 2010. Commitment devices. Annual Review of Economics, 2, pp.671–698.

Thaler, R.H. & Shefrin, H.M., 1981. An Economic Theory of Self-Control. Journal of Political Economy, 89(2), pp.392–406.

Rogers, T., Milkman, K.L. & Volpp, K.G., 2014. Commitment devices: using initiatives to change behavior. JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association, 311(20), pp.2065–6.

Oliver, A. & Ubel, P., 2014. Nudging the obese: a UK-US consideration. Health economics, policy, and law, (April), pp.1–14.

Nyer, P.U. & Dellande, S., 2010. Public Commitment as a Motivator for Weight Loss. Psychology & Marketing, 27(1), pp.1–12.

Volpp, K.G. et al., 2008. Financial Incentive–Based Approaches for Weight Loss. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 300(22), pp.2631 –2637.

Keywords: Commitment device, Weight Loss, Online, field experiment, Health behaviour change, Behavioural Economics

Conference: 2nd Behaviour Change Conference: Digital Health and Wellbeing, London, United Kingdom, 24 Feb - 25 Feb, 2016.

Presentation Type: Poster presentation

Topic: Academic

Citation: Savani MM (2016). Can commitment devices improve usage of online weight loss tools? A field experiment. Front. Public Health. Conference Abstract: 2nd Behaviour Change Conference: Digital Health and Wellbeing. doi: 10.3389/conf.FPUBH.2016.01.00038

Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters.

The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated.

Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed.

For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions.

Received: 02 Dec 2015; Published Online: 09 Jan 2016.

* Correspondence: Mrs. Manu M Savani, University College London, Department of Political Science, London, United Kingdom, manumsavani@gmail.com