Comparing the effects of financial incentives and implementation intentions on unhealthy snacking behavior in employees
Achtziger, A.; Glas, A.; Kenning, P.; Rudolph, T.
Current Psychology 40(10): 4770-4784
2019
ISSN/ISBN: 1046-1310 Document Number: 267349
Much is known about how implementation intentions and financial incentives may help reduce the consumption of unhealthy food, but there is no study that compared the effects of both interventions and tested the influence of their combination on healthy eating behavior. In a field experiment among employees of a retailer, we observed that implementation intentions and financial incentives significantly reduced snack consumption immediately after the intervention. The combination of implementation intentions and financial incentives did not outperform the effects of the implementation intention or of the financial incentive. Interestingly, in the week after the interventions, only the implementation intention, but not the financial incentive reduced unhealthy snack consumption.