Financial incentives to achieve health-related behavioral goals: State of play and unresolved questions

Programs providing monetary rewards to individuals who achieve a health-related goal (quitting smoking, losing weight, etc.) aim at promoting healthy behaviors. While these programs seem to achieve their objective in the short run, their ability to provoke lasting changes remains to be demonstrated. The identification of granting mechanisms likely to maximize the incentive effect of these rewards should be based on knowledge about individual attitudes evidenced by behavioral economics. As the latter has shown that preferences toward risk vary from one individual to another, these incentive mechanisms should be tailor-made according to individual preferences.