Promoting Contextually Cued PA Habits
Promoting Contextually Cued Physical Activity Habits: A Pilot Study Using Cue-Contingent Financial Incentives for Daily Walking
1 other identifier
interventional
137
1 country
1
Brief Summary
The primary goal of this two-month pilot study is to measure the behavioral change induced by targeted habit formation reminders that are surfaced via an iPhone app and financial incentives that were offered conditional on using a personalized contextual cue for a daily walking habit. The data and user feedback collected during this study will also be used to optimize the design and content of the iPhone app, which will be tested in future, larger scale experimental research.
Trial Health
Trial Health Score
Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach
participants targeted
Target at P50-P75 for not_applicable
Started Feb 2019
1 active site
Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.
Trial Relationships
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Study Timeline
Key milestones and dates
Study Start
First participant enrolled
February 28, 2019
CompletedPrimary Completion
Last participant's last visit for primary outcome
August 21, 2019
CompletedStudy Completion
Last participant's last visit for all outcomes
August 21, 2020
CompletedFirst Submitted
Initial submission to the registry
December 28, 2020
CompletedFirst Posted
Study publicly available on registry
December 31, 2020
CompletedJuly 20, 2023
July 1, 2023
6 months
December 28, 2020
July 19, 2023
Conditions
Keywords
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcomes (2)
Daily Step Count
Full study period analyses
8 weeks
Daily Step Count
Follow-up period
4 weeks
Secondary Outcomes (3)
Habitual daily walking
8 weeks
Habitual daily walking
4 weeks
10,000 daily step
4 weeks
Study Arms (4)
Control Group
ACTIVE COMPARATOROne fourth of participants were assigned to the Control Group, and received a basic training with the StepUp app and were asked to contact the study team with any problems or questions they encountered during the eight-week study period. No other intervention tools or app reminders were provided to the Control Group.
Treatment Group 1
EXPERIMENTALAdditionally eligible to receive weekly $5 Amazon gift cards over the first four weeks of the study for performing a ≥10-minute walk (i.e. non-cue-contingent incentives)
Treatment Group 2
EXPERIMENTALReceived an instructional video on the benefits of contextual-cue-dependent habits and instructions on how to identify an optimal personalized cue that would consistently trigger their ≥10-minute walking habit, then they were similarly eligible weekly for $5 Amazon gift cards over the first four weeks conditional on completing a ≥10-minute walk at any time of day (i.e. non-cue-contingent incentives)
Treatment Group 3
EXPERIMENTALReceived an instructional video on the benefits of contextual-cue-dependent habits and instructions on how to identify an optimal personalized cue that would consistently trigger their ≥10-minute walking habit, then they were eligible weekly for $5 Amazon gift cards over the first four weeks conditional on completing a ≥10-minute walk at any the pre-specified time of their chosen contextual cue (i.e. cue-contingent incentives)
Interventions
Eligible to win $5 Amazon gift card conditional on completing a daily ≥10-minute walk at any time of day
Eligible to win $5 Amazon gift card conditional on completing a daily ≥10-minute walk within a +/-1 hour window of the pre-specified time of their chosen contextual walking cue
Received an instructional video on the benefits of contextual-cue-dependent habits and instructions on how to identify an optimal personalized cue that would consistently trigger their ≥10-minute walking habit
Received a basic training with the StepUp app
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if:
- + years of age
- Have an existing wellness goal related to increasing physical activity
- Access to an iPhone with iOS 10 or above (in order to use the app)
- Proficiency in speaking and reading English
You may not qualify if:
- Have a major visual impairment
- Pregnancy
- Expected surgery
- A chronic or acute health condition that affects their ability to perform basic mobility tasks or light-aerobic exercise (e.g. heart disease, injured or missing limb, etc.)
Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.
Sponsors & Collaborators
Study Sites (1)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, New York, 12180, United States
Related Publications (6)
Stawarz, Cox, and Blandford. 2015. "Beyond self-tracking and reminders: designing smartphone apps that support habit formation." Proceedings of the 33rd annual ACM conference on human factors in computing systems, ACM.
BACKGROUNDLally, Phillippa, et al. 2010. "How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world." European journal of social psychology 40(6): 998-1009.
BACKGROUNDWood W, Neal DT. A new look at habits and the habit-goal interface. Psychol Rev. 2007 Oct;114(4):843-63. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.114.4.843.
PMID: 17907866BACKGROUNDWood and Neal. 2016. "Healthy through habit: Interventions for initiating & maintaining health behavior change." Behavioral Science & Policy 2(1): 71-83.
BACKGROUNDAdriaanse MA, Gollwitzer PM, De Ridder DT, de Wit JB, Kroese FM. Breaking habits with implementation intentions: a test of underlying processes. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2011 Apr;37(4):502-13. doi: 10.1177/0146167211399102. Epub 2011 Feb 11.
PMID: 21317315BACKGROUNDStecher C, Chen CH, Codella J, Cloonan S, Hendler J. Combining anchoring with financial incentives to increase physical activity: a randomized controlled trial among college students. J Behav Med. 2024 Oct;47(5):751-769. doi: 10.1007/s10865-024-00492-4. Epub 2024 May 5.
PMID: 38704776DERIVED
MeSH Terms
Conditions
Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)
Study Design
- Study Type
- interventional
- Phase
- not applicable
- Allocation
- RANDOMIZED
- Masking
- SINGLE
- Who Masked
- PARTICIPANT
- Masking Details
- Participants were randomized into four different study groups
- Purpose
- PREVENTION
- Intervention Model
- PARALLEL
- Sponsor Type
- OTHER
- Responsible Party
- PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
- PI Title
- Assistant Professor
Study Record Dates
First Submitted
December 28, 2020
First Posted
December 31, 2020
Study Start
February 28, 2019
Primary Completion
August 21, 2019
Study Completion
August 21, 2020
Last Updated
July 20, 2023
Record last verified: 2023-07
Data Sharing
- IPD Sharing
- Will not share