An interventional study of Group Commitment Contract and Individual Monetary Rewards in Smoking Cessation and Weight Loss, sponsored by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.. Suspended at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-04-16.
Sponsored by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention
We will conduct a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of group commitment contracts for smoking cessation and weight loss.
Initial screening will be conducted online via the Qualtrics survey platform. Respondents meeting the inclusion/exclusion criteria will immediately be randomized into one of the intervention arms described below, and then take a baseline survey. This baseline survey will also be conducted online via the Qualtrics survey platform. The initial screening, randomization, and baseline survey should take approximately 15 minutes total and can be completed anywhere the participant has an internet connection.
INTERVENTION: Respondents who meet the inclusion/exclusion criteria will be randomized into one of the following arms:
Subjects in Arms #2-4 will be cross-randomized into two subgroups:
A. Additional information treatments on the likelihood of success of the different incentives and contracts, with the goal of shifting "naives" to "sophisticates."
B. No additional information treatments.
FOLLOW-UP SURVEY: After the participants finish their contract, they will be emailed a link to the follow-up survey that will be administered online via the Qualtrics survey platform. The survey should take approximately 5 minutes and can be completed anywhere the participant has an internet connection. Participants will be directly prompted to answer whether they have been able to quit smoking or lose their target weight in the past six months. If a participant self-reports a claim of smoking cessation or successful weight loss, they will be asked to furnish at-home verification of their claim.
IN-PERSON VERIFICATION: A randomly selected subset of successful participants will be asked for in-person verification of their claim with a urine test (smoking cessation) or in-person weigh-in (weight loss) at a Quest Diagnostics location of their choice.
1,223 studies on the registry are indexed under Body Weight; 131 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 3,600 is above the median of 64 across 947 interventional studies indexed under Body Weight.
Browse Body Weight studies →National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. is the lead sponsor of 22 studies on the registry; 2 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
If completing a smoking cessation contract:
If completing a weight loss contract:
Exclusion Criteria:
Subjects are not offered a group commitment contract, individual commitment contract, or individual monetary rewards. Subjects do not receive additional information treatments.
Subjects are offered a group commitment contract for smoking cessation or weight loss and receive additional information treatments.
Behavioral: Group Commitment Contract · Other: Information
Subjects are offered individual monetary rewards for smoking cessation or weight loss and receive additional information treatments.
Behavioral: Individual Monetary Rewards · Other: Information
Subjects are offered an individual commitment contract for smoking cessation or weight loss and receive additional information treatments.
Behavioral: Individual Commitment Contract · Other: Information
Subjects are offered a group commitment contract for smoking cessation or weight loss and receive no additional information treatments.
Behavioral: Group Commitment Contract
Subjects are offered individual monetary rewards for smoking cessation or weight loss and receive no additional information treatments.
Behavioral: Individual Monetary Rewards
Subjects are offered an individual commitment contract for smoking cessation or weight loss and receive no additional information treatments.
Behavioral: Individual Commitment Contract
A group contract where the primary individual, who will be tracked by the study, can invite peers to join the contract and form their group. To initiate a contract, a user must choose: the stakes, start date, and (for weight loss contracts) target weight, and and, optionally, to allow other members to have the power to invite other people to join the group.
Individuals eligible for a $100 monetary reward (incentive) following verified smoking cessation or weight loss.
Individuals will have the opportunity to create an individual commitment contract to quit smoking. They will have the option to set the stakes, start date, and (for weight loss contracts) target weight.
In the initial survey, participants will receive additional information treatments on the likelihood of success of the different incentives and contracts, with the goal of shifting "naives" to "sophisticates."
Smoking Cessation / Weight Loss
Participants will be directly prompted to answer whether they have been able to quit smoking or reach their target weight in the past six months. If a participant self-reports a claim of success, they will be asked to furnish at-home (and, in some cases, in-person) verification.
Time frame: 6 months
Smoking Cessation / Weight Loss by Sex/Gender, Race, and Ethnicity
Participants will be directly prompted to answer whether they have been able to quit smoking or reach their target weight in the past six months. If a participant self-reports a claim of success, they will be asked to furnish at-home (and, in some cases, in-person) verification.
Time frame: 6 months
Plan to share: Yes
Supporting information: Study protocol, Sap, Icf, Analytic code
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
This study is suspended, as verified in Apr 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.