Incentives and Habit Formation in Health Screenings: Evidence from the Illinois Workplace Wellness Study

Damon Jones, David Molitor and Julian Reif

No 32745, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We study habit formation in annual biometric health screenings using a field experiment that randomly assigned financial incentives to 4,799 employees over three years. Completing the first screening raised subsequent screenings by 32.4-36.0 percentage points (84%-90%) annually. Habit formation was similar whether employees were offered screenings as part of a comprehensive wellness program or just screenings alone, suggesting such habits can develop without frequent interactions. We rule out inattention as an explanation, using a subsample assigned more salient incentives. The long-run effect stems from the initial decision to participate, indicating a habit formation process with a one-shot mechanism.

JEL-codes: H0 I1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp and nep-hea
Note: AG EH PE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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