Cash Prizes Inspire Gamified Wellness

HealthyWage Jackpot & Step Challenges proffer healthful weight loss motivation in a way that entertains, challenges and financially rewards good choices through game play. Having paid out over $52 million cash for a collective 10 million pounds lost, HealthyWage participation—and prize pots—surge as behavioral economics studies continue to substantiate gamification efficacy for weight loss-driven wellness.

Wellness gamification pioneer HealthyWage—the world’s leading purveyor of money-driven diet contests and challenges for individuals, teams and corporate wellness groups that has paid more than $52 million cash rewards for more than 10 million collective pounds lost—recently announced that it’s current round of weight loss “Jackpot” and “Step” challenges boasts a collective cash pot prize opportunity of nearly $95,000. The proof is in the performance in the form of quantifiable and undeniable metrics that behavioral economics-based gamification works to promote healthful weight loss. Exemplifying the power and efficacy of HealthyWage’s approach are many success stories (both female and male).

With reports indicating that four in ten American adults (about 41.9 percent) are currently obese, and with nearly 20 percent more states today suffering obesity rates above 35 percent versus the year prior, there are compounding concerns as the condition escalates nationwide. Not the least of which is untold millions of Americans needlessly putting themselves at higher risk of—or exacerbating—serious medical conditions per CDC warnings. A Harvard School of Public Health report underscores an ominous trajectory if obesity is not aptly addressed by the end of this decade, revealing that, “If U.S. trends continue unabated, by 2030, estimates predict that roughly half of all men and women will be obese.” Other dire study-driven forecasts through 2030 estimate a staggering “33 percent increase in obesity prevalence and a 130 percent increase in severe obesity prevalence over the next two decades,” also noting that this reality would further hinder healthcare containment cost efforts.

Understanding the need for serious health-focused intervention to get America’s collective weight-driven wellness trending in the right direction, category pioneer HealthyWage continues to tackle the U.S. obesity epidemic head on by using the psychological benefits of game mechanics to motivate weight loss. This as the company is helping more people than ever lose weight and get healthy through its gamification platform founded on study-driven behavioral science and economics principles validated by many esteemed medical research institutions.

Cash inspires weight loss challenge-driven wellness.

“Studies continue to show that monetary incentives serve to enhance the effectiveness of, and duly complement, weight-loss programs of any and all sorts, especially when paid out quickly like our various programs,” said HealthyWage co-founder David Roddenberry. “Loss aversion is a powerful dynamic and the reality of having ‘skin in the game’ can propel the results of a gamified weight loss initiative. Indeed, a key element for the success of a gamification program is giving participants something to lose if they fail to meet their goal—whether tangible or intangible.”

Whether one is dieting in a personal or professional environment, an array of studies reiterate the importance of the “stick” in the design of a wellness incentive program. “There are many studies demonstrated that the threat of losing something of value is much more effective than the opportunity to win something of equal value,” Roddenberry continued “That’s precisely why we advocate that program participants ‘pay to play’ and make an investment out of their own pocket in order to win rewards—in our case large cash prizes— for losing weight and getting more active in the program. The average HealthyWager participant more than doubles their investment if they are successful at achieving their goal. The financial upside potential is impressive.”

So effective is the company’s diet gamification method, famous personalities have joined HealthyWage in the fight to get America fit. For one, the company partners with global health and fitness expert Jillian Michaels to provide free six-month access to The Fitness App by Jillian Michaels for participants taking a HealthyWager challenge. Beyond the cash prize potential, this partnership additionally provides participants with custom workouts and meal plans—everything they need to succeed—along with other wellness resources like recipes and that related to meditation, mindfulness and sleep.

—HealthyWage