Cash Rewards + Peer Pressure = Employee Lifestyle Change

Cash rewards offered by companies to their employees as an incentive to lead healthier lifestyles  can work, if the element of peer pressure is added, a U.S. study finds. The study is a timely one, because under the Affordable Care Act employers will soon be able to offer larger financial incentives for quitting smoking and losing weight. For the study, obese employees in one group  earned $100 every month in which they met weight loss goals. A second group was divided into smaller units, each member of which split $500 if monthly weight loss goals were met. But employees who met the goals could earn an extra $100 if other group members failed. The latter peer pressure approach led to greater average weight loss, researchers report.