Table 5.

Understanding and impact of incentives

	Illustrative quotes
5.1 Difficulties recalling incentive design	INTERVIEWER: And were you eligible to receive financial bonuses if you met your weight loss goals? LEAST SUCCESSFUL INTERVIEWEE: I do not remember. I: Okay, that’s fine. Can you recall how the bonuses worked, just generally speaking? N: Yeah. If you—I’m trying to remember. Was it the weigh-ins? You got weighed in and I think that was it, just according to the weigh-ins. I: Okay. So if you completed the weigh-ins, you’d get the financial bonus? N: Yes. Right. Right. Right.
	I: Do you recall how these bonuses worked? N: It was like, if you were under a certain amount of weight, then you would get a certain amount of money, I believe, or something like that.
	I: Can you recall how these bonuses worked? H: No. I don’t. I’m sorry.(…)They’d say that you’ve met your goals or over it. You achieved it or something. No. I don’t. I’m sorry. I don’t.
	I: Can you recall how these bonuses worked? H: I think when I went to the weigh-in, if I met my goal I got like 50 dollars or 100—dependent on how many months or something and if you got weighed within the timeframe. Is that right? I think—yeah.
5.2 Incentives as motivation	I: And when you received one of these bonuses, what was your reaction? N: I was happy because it made me feel like, okay, I’m really doing something, and I’d really feel my work was great. I: Mm-hmm. And alternatively, when you didn’t qualify for receiving a bonus because you didn’t reach your weight loss goal, what was your reaction then? N: It made me a little sad because I thought I was working hard or I knew that I wasn’t working as hard as I could have, so it just pushed me to want to just do better next time.
	And when you received one of these bonuses, what was your initial reaction? H: Oh, happy. It was nice. I: Right. Alternatively, when you didn’t qualify for receiving a bonus because you didn’t reach your weight loss goal, what was your reaction then? H: Wished I would have met the goal, but I wasn’t heartbroken over it. I: Okay. And did you find that the financial bonuses were a major motivating factor for taking steps to lose weight? H: No, not really. A major—it was a motivator. I wouldn’t say major motivator. Yeah, I think the main motivator was just to make sure you stayed on track for what you said your goal was. That was more the main motivator.
	I: Right. And when you didn’t qualify for a bonus because you didn’t reach your weight-loss goal, what was your reaction then? H: Well, I mean the monetary thing—that wasn’t even why I did it—for real. So even if it was just a regular study, I would have joined it. So yeah. I wasn’t upset. I was upset because I didn’t make my goal—because my weight didn’t go down. I wasn’t upset because I didn’t make my goal and I wasn’t going to be rewarded.
	H:(M)y goal is to lose weight, not to make money. All right. My goal is to lose weight and get healthier.(…)If the study was offered again to participate and there’s able to be—no reward—I would still join it. I: And how much greater do you think the financial rewards would have to be to make a difference in your effort to lose weight? H: To me? None. Like I said, it doesn’t matter to me. I mean, health is more important to me than any financial thing that you can offer.
	I: And when you received one of these bonuses, what was your initial reaction? H: Nothing, really. It wasn’t a significant amount, just—it wasn’t like it made me a millionaire. It was very minute.