Table 3.

Summary of Behavioral Economics and Weight Loss Studies

First Author (Ref. #)	N	Duration	Control Program	Intervention	Technology	Outcome	Result(s)
John et al. (95)	66	32 weeks	Dietician consult and monthly weigh-in	Control program + financial incentives using deposit contracts	Weight scale	Weight loss at 32 w weeks	Intervention arm lost significantly more weight compared with control (8.7 lb vs. 1.2 lb)
Kullgren et al. (96)	105	24 weeks	Monthly weigh-in	Financial incentives where: Arm 1) individual financial reward ($100) for meeting or exceeding weight loss goal; Arm 2) group financial reward ($500) split between group members who met weight loss goal	Weight scale + automated text messaging	Weight loss at 24 weeks	Group incentive participants lost more weight compared with individual incentive and control conditions (9.7 lb)
Volpp et al. (97)	57	16 weeks	Monthly weigh-in	Financial incentive where: Arm 1) deposit contract with matching; Arm 2) lottery-based financial incentives	Weight scale + automated messaging	Weight loss at 16 weeks	Lottery financial incentive arm and deposit contract arm lost significantly more weight compared with control (13.1 lb and 14 lb vs. 3.9 lb)