User engagement with just-in-time interventions using micro-financial incentives for health and well-being

Abstract

Strategies for leveraging rewards in DBCI, such as financial incentives, have been extensively discussed in a variety of health and well-being contexts. Since behavior change begins with small and meaningful changes, various studies on behavioral change emphasize the importance of instant feedback on behavioral outcomes. However, prior studies on financial incentives have lacked exploration of mechanisms that flexibly adjust incentive payments based on fine-grained tracking of real-time changes in one’s behavior. This thesis proposes a micro-financial incentives mechanism that promotes positive behavioral change in the context of system-driven Just-in-Time (JIT) interventions. The micro-financial incentives mechanism designs a method to provide micro-financial incentives for users’ small behavioral changes under the system-driven JIT interventions. Based on a theoretical review of Behavioral economics and Self-regulation theory and prior empirical studies on DBCI, the micro-financial incentives mechanism was designed and developed to promote user engagement with the JIT interventions. In-the-wild user studies conducted in physical activity promotion and digital well-being scenarios showed that JIT interventions with the proposed micro-financial incentives mechanism are effective in facilitating and sustaining target behaviors for health and well-being. Based on the findings, several design implications are provided for how to utilize micro-financial incentives mechanisms to help users form positive health and wellness habits in the context of JIT interventions. Context-aware design strategies that can flexibly adjust incentive amounts in a given user context to enhance user engagement for JIT interventions are discussed. In addition, I discuss design strategies that can increase intrinsic motivation for engaging with JIT interventions by integrating various behavior change techniques, such as social support, into the micro-financial incentives mechanisms. This thesis shows the feasibility of micro-financial incentives in various fields of health and wellness.