Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36873308›Full record

ArticleInternet interventions2023

Put your money where your feet are: The real-world effects of StepBet gamified deposit contracts for physical activity.

David R de Buisonjé, Fiona Brosig, Linda D Breeman, Erika Litvin Bloom, Thomas Reijnders, Veronica R Janssen, Roderik A Kraaijenhagen, Hareld M C Kemps, Andrea W M Evers

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In one paragraph

Article in Internet interventions, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Promoting healthy behaviour with financial incentives: three challenges and solutions for large scale implementation.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2026
    Review
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

David R de BuisonjéHealth, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Fiona BrosigHealth, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Linda D BreemanHealth, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Erika Litvin BloomWayBetter, Inc., Wilmington, DE, USA.
Thomas ReijndersHealth, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Veronica R JanssenHealth, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Roderik A KraaijenhagenHearts4People foundation, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Hareld M C KempsDepartment of Cardiology, Máxima Medical Center, Veldhoven, the Netherlands.
Andrea W M EversHealth, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Gamification and deposit contracts (a financial incentive in which participants pledge their own money) can enhance effectiveness of mobile behavior change interventions. However, to assess their potential for improving population health, research should investigate implementation of gamified deposit contracts outside the research setting. Therefore, we analyzed data from StepBet, a smartphone application originally developed by WayBetter, Inc. Objective: To perform a naturalistic evaluation of StepBet gamified deposit contracts, for whom they work best, and under which conditions they are most effective to help increase physical activity. Methods: WayBetter provided data of StepBet participants that participated in a stepcount challenge between 2015 and 2020 (N = 72,974). StepBet challenges were offered on the StepBet smartphone application. The modal challenge consisted of a $40 deposit made prior to a 6-week challenge period during which participants needed to reach daily and weekly step goals in order to regain their deposit. Participants who met their goals also received additional earnings which were paid out from the money lost by those who failed their challenge. Challenge step goals were tailored on a 90-day historic step count retrieval that was also used as the baseline comparison for this study. Primary outcomes were increase in step count (continuous) and challenge success (dichotomous). Results: Overall, average daily step counts increased by 31.2 % (2423 steps, Discussion: In a real-world setting, and among a large and diverse sample, participating in a gamified deposit contract challenge was associated with a large increase in step counts. A majority of challenges were successful and succeeding in a challenge was associated with a large and clinically relevant increase in step counts. Based on these findings, we recommend implementing gamified deposit contracts for physical activity where possible. An interesting avenue for future research is to explore possible setback effects among people who fail a challenge, and how setbacks can be mitigated. Pre-registration: Open Science Framework (doi:10.17605/OSF.IO/D237C).

Indexed as

Deposit contractsFinancial incentivesGamificationHealth behavior changePhysical activity

Identifiers

PMID36873308
PMCPMC9982638

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.