Dress for Success: Can Just Dressing for the Gym Help Going to the Gym?

September 2, 2015 updated by: University of Pennsylvania
In this study, the investigators ask the question: can incentivizing smaller, less costly behaviors-like just getting yourself dressed to go to the gym-be more effective (and palatable) than incentivizing the larger goal directly?

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

To test this hypothesis, the investigators will randomly assign participants to one of three experimental conditions: (1) control, (2) dress for success (low effort), and (2) exercise for success (high effort). The investigators' hypothesis is that incentivizing a low effort, indirect/workout-related behavior (i.e., "dressing for success") will be more effective in motivating workouts than the control, despite a lack of economic incentive for the workout itself. Additionally, the investigators will compare workout levels for groups 2 and 3; if there is no difference between the two groups (or if 2 has higher exercise rates than 3), this would suggest that indirect incentives may be as effective as direct ones.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

1310

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
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104
        • University of Pennsylvania

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 to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • those who opt-in to the recruitment email to all of the investigators' corporate partner's users.

Exclusion Criteria:

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: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Group 1: Control
Ask participants to take a picture of themselves
Behavioral: Take and send a selfie
Direction to take and send a selfie.
Experimental: Group 2: Dress for Success
Ask participants to take a picture of themselves while wearing their workout gear
Behavioral: Take and send a selfie
Direction to take and send a selfie.
Behavioral: Workout gears
Direction to wear workout gears.
Experimental: Group 3: Exercise for Success
Ask participants to take a picture of themselves while wearing their workout gear and complete a 30-minute workout
Behavioral: Take and send a selfie
Direction to take and send a selfie.
Behavioral: Workout gears
Direction to wear workout gears.
Behavioral: Exercise
Direction to complete a 30 minute workout.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
number of steps taken
Time Frame: 1-2 weeks before and after intervention
1-2 weeks before and after intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Pennsylvania

Collaborators

Harvard University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Katherine L. Milkman, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
  • Principal Investigator: Bradford Tuckfield, University of Pennsylvania
  • Principal Investigator: Katherine Barasz, HBS
  • Principal Investigator: Leslie K. John, Ph.D., HBS

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

April 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 3, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 7, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

April 8, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

September 4, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 2, 2015

Last Verified

September 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 819369-1

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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