QuitBet Phase II: A Digital Social Game That Pays You to Stop Smoking

This study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of QuitBet, a digital contingency management program for smoking cessation. QuitBet combines social gaming elements with participant-funded financial incentives in the form of a deposit contract. QuitBet "players" deposit (called the "bet") a specified amount of their own money into the game's "pot." All "winners" who achieve the game's goal split the pot equally, such that their bet is fully refunded plus they receive extra money from the forfeited bets of players who did not meet the goal. Participants (N = 550) will be randomly assigned to QuitBet or QuitBet-NS (deposit contract only, no social elements). All participants will be offered a second game after their first game (up to 8 weeks total game duration) and will be asked to complete a survey after each game and at 1 and 4 months after the end of the second game (3 and 6 months after the start of their first game). The study will compare QuitBet vs. QuitBet-NS on smoking behavior outcomes and examine potential mediators of outcomes such as motivation, engagement, and satisfaction.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Smoking Cessation
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: contingency management (deposit contract); Behavioral: leaderboard and social feed; Behavioral: smoking cessation resource list

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 245
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Delaware
    • Wilmington, Delaware, United States, 19807
      • WayBetter

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 21 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Sufficient English fluency to complete study procedures
2. At least 21 years of age
3. U.S. resident of any state
4. currently smokes at least 5 cigarettes per day
5. has an email address
6. has a mailing address at which they can receive packages
7. owns an Internet-connected Apple iPhone or Android smartphone that is compatible with QuitBet
8. willing to deposit $30 via PayPal or a credit card
9. willing to receive financial incentives earned during QuitBet via PayPal or in a paper check sent by mail

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: QuitBet; QuitBet is a quit smoking game delivered via a smartphone application that lasts 28 days and includes contingency management in the form of a deposit contract, integrated exhaled breath carbon monoxide (CO) testing, a social feed on which "players" can post and respond to messages, and a "leaderboard" that displays players' status (i.e., whether they are still eligible to win). A game host will post educational information about smoking cessation and serve as a discussion moderator. Participants will deposit ("bet") $30 of their own money at the start of the game. Participants who submit a CO test that is 6ppm or lower (indicating no smoking) on at least 24 of the 26 days between day 3-28 will be declared winners and will split the pot of money that was deposited. All participants who submit at least 21 CO tests during the 28 day game, regardless of the CO test result, will be entered into a lottery to win a prize worth $75.	Behavioral: contingency management (deposit contract); Participants will deposit $30 of their own money to play QuitBet. Participants will submit a CO test once per day between the hours of noon and 11:59pm. Participants whose CO test is 6ppm or lower (indicating no smoking) on at least 24 of 26 days between day 3-28 of the game will be declared winners and split the pot of deposited money. Participants who submit at least 21 CO tests, regardless of the result, will be entered into a raffle to win a prize worth $75.; Behavioral: leaderboard and social feed; Participants will have access to a discussion board on which participants can post and respond to messages to each other. Also, a game host will post educational information about smoking cessation and serve as a discussion moderator.
Active Comparator: QuitBet-NS (no social elements); QuitBet-NS will include the deposit contract and integrated CO testing with identical rules to QuitBet for being a winner, the $75 raffle for submitting at least 21 CO tests, a display of the participant's daily CO test results that is updated in real time, and a game feed on which only the game host has the ability to post. Players will not be able to post on this feed or respond to the host's posts. At the beginning of the game, the host will post limited information, including a list of smoking cessation resources. QuitBet-NS will NOT include the social feed, leaderboard, or any other social features.	Behavioral: contingency management (deposit contract); Participants will deposit $30 of their own money to play QuitBet. Participants will submit a CO test once per day between the hours of noon and 11:59pm. Participants whose CO test is 6ppm or lower (indicating no smoking) on at least 24 of 26 days between day 3-28 of the game will be declared winners and split the pot of deposited money. Participants who submit at least 21 CO tests, regardless of the result, will be entered into a raffle to win a prize worth $75.; Behavioral: smoking cessation resource list; Participants will have access to a list of smoking cessation resources

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Participants Who Reported no Cigarette Smoking During the Past 7 Days	At 6 month follow-up, participant reported no smoking during the past 7 days (survey question: "Have you smoked a cigarette, even just a puff, during the past 7 days?" with answer choices of "yes" or "no" - participant responded "no").	6 months after the start date of their first QuitBet game

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Participants Who Choose to Play a Second Game	Number of participants who chose to play a second QuitBet game	4 weeks after the start date of their first QuitBet game (end of game), when they were given the option to join a second game
Cigarettes Per Day During the Past 7 Days	At 6 month follow up, the number of cigarettes the participant reported smoking during the previous 7 days (survey respondents only). In the 6 month follow-up survey, participants were first asked "Have you smoked a cigarette, even just a puff, during the past 7 days?" (yes/no answer choice). Participants who answered "no" were counted as smoking 0 cigarettes in this analysis. Participants who answered "yes" were then asked to report how many cigarettes they smoked on each day during the past week (day 1 being this day last week, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5, day 6, day 7 being yesterday). The average of the 7 days was used in this analysis.	6 months after the start of their first QuitBet game
Number of Participants Who Used Smoking Cessation Medication	Number of participants who reported use of any smoking cessation medication (including any form of nicotine replacement therapy, buproprion, or varencline) at any time during their participation in the study, from the start of their first QuitBet game until the last follow-up 6 months later	6 month period beginning with the start of their first QuitBet game

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: WayBetter, Inc.
• Collaborators: Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Jamie Rosen, WayBetter, Inc.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 27, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): July 27, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 17, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 28, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): October 12, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 27, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 9, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavior; Health Behavior; Smoking Cessation
• Other Study ID Numbers: QuitBet Phase II

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No