Impacts of Public Announcements of Goals and Outcomes on Goal Completion (Commit to Steps)

December 2, 2014 updated by: Paul J. Resnick, University of Michigan

Impacts of Public Announcements of Goals and Outcomes on Goal Completion

Physical activity is known to help reduce obesity and the problems that accompany it. Walking has many benefits that make it an excellent way for obese people to increase their physical activity. It is hard, however, for people to stick with walking programs. Setting specific and challenging walking targets that are combined with timely feedback about discrepancies between desired and actual performance lead to higher performance. There is conflicting theory and evidence about the effects of publicly announcing those targets on commitment to the targets and on performance.

Our research question is whether public announcements reduce the challenge level of commitments people set, and whether the reputational consequence of public announcements is severe enough to increase performance. The investigators propose a controlled trial that will integrate Facebook with the objective monitoring of walking via the use of pedometers to test the effect of public announcements on commitments and step counts.

All participants will wear a pedometer and upload via the internet for 14 to 15 weeks, depending on their date of randomization. The first 2 to 3 weeks the investigators will determine the participant's baseline step counts. The following 12 weeks, the investigators will recommend a daily step count target based on the median number of steps the participants walked the previous week. Each week, participants will set a commitment by stating the number of days in the following week that he/she will meet the computer-set step count target.

Commitments will be entered into an interface that will link with Facebook. Participants will select who of their Facebook friends will receive their commitments and/or results via Facebook posts. The interface will distribute those posts in a way that fits in with existing online social practices.

There will be 3 experimental conditions. 1.) No public announcements 2.) Public announcement of commitment and 3.) Public announcement of commitment and results. In addition, groups 2 and 3 will provide us with emails of 3 friends or family members who will act as the participant's support team. The investigators will send announcements directly to support team members.

The investigators plan to recruit 165 participants primarily by obtaining lists of potentially eligible University of Michigan Health System patients from the clinical data repository, and sending targeted letters to these patients. Because this research - and the physical activity programs it will inform - aims to reach a large number of people efficiently, enrollment will take place online with a click-through consent document. The investigators have extensive experience with delivering online walking programs in similar populations.

The investigators hope to learn best practices for using public announcements and online social networks to encourage people to exercise more or to otherwise promote wellness.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

165

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Michigan
      • Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, 48109
        • University of Michigan

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria

  • Has received treatment from a UMHS provider within the previous 6 months.
  • BMI ≥ 30
  • Age ≥ 18
  • Must be sedentary, defined by less than 150 minutes of self-reported activity per week.
  • Must have access to a computer with an Internet connection that can accept USB uploads.
  • Must have a Facebook account and have at least 50 friends on it.
  • Must be able to communicate in English.

Exclusion Criteria

  • Currently pregnant
  • Unable to comfortably walk at least a block without the assistance of a cane or walker.
  • Not competent to sign a consent form.
  • Absolute or relative contraindications to walking

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: Private/private
Participants will wear a pedometer for 14-15 weeks and receive a weekly step count target each week. Participants will be required to set a forward-looking commitment each week as to how many days during the following week they will meet their step count target. Commitment and results will be private.
Behavioral: Walking program
Experimental: Public/private
Participants will wear a pedometer for 14-15 weeks and receive a weekly step count target each week. Commitments are made as in the Private/Private condition. In addition, one Facebook announcement will be posted at the beginning of the week that says how many days the participant thinks they will meet their walking target the following week. An email will also be sent directly to 3 friends the participant chose with the same announcements.
Behavioral: Walking program
Behavioral: Precommitment announcement
Experimental: Public/public
Participants will wear a pedometer for 14-15 weeks and receive a weekly step count target each week. Commitments will be made as in the Private/Private condition. In addition, one message will be posted to Facebook at the beginning of the week that says how many days the participant thinks they will meet their walking target the following week, and how they did on their previous weekly commitment. An email will also be sent directly to 3 friends the participant chose with the same announcements.
Behavioral: Walking program
Behavioral: Precommitment announcement
Behavioral: Results announcement

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
The number of days the participant met the weekly step count target.
Time Frame: Participants will be followed for 14 to 15 weeks, depending on the date of randomization.
Participants will be followed for 14 to 15 weeks, depending on the date of randomization.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
The number of days the participants committed to walking.
Time Frame: Participants will be followed for 14 to 15 weeks, depending on the date of randomization.
Participants will be followed for 14 to 15 weeks, depending on the date of randomization.
The change in step counts from baseline.
Time Frame: Participants will be followed for 14 to 15 weeks, depending on the date of randomization.
Participants will be followed for 14 to 15 weeks, depending on the date of randomization.
The number of days the participants wore the pedometer.
Time Frame: Participants will be followed for 14 to 15 weeks, depending on the date of randomization.
Participants will be followed for 14 to 15 weeks, depending on the date of randomization.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Michigan

Collaborators

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Paul J Resnick, PhD, University of Michigan

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

July 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2014

Study Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 14, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 12, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

March 14, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

December 3, 2014

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 2, 2014

Last Verified

December 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 9010

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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