Does the provision of economic consumer incentives improve and sustain preventive behaviours?

Improving participation in preventive activities requires methods to encourage and sustain consumer engagement. This review assesses the effects of economic incentives such as monetary transfers (either cash or in kind) that are provided directly to individuals as a way of inducing preventive health-related behavioural change. Behaviours were classified either as ‘complex’ if a number of steps and sustained consumer changes were required, or as ‘simple’ if changes could be accomplished directly (e.g. immunisations).

Key messages

• All the reported studies of economic incentives were conducted in high-income countries
• Most studies of simple preventive care interventions (such as immunisations, cancer screening and follow up visits) were conducted in vulnerable, low socio-economic populations
• 73% of the economic incentives reported in the studies achieved short-term positive results
• The effectiveness of economic incentives on simple preventive care was not sustained, particularly for complex behaviours
• Increasing the ability of consumers to purchase preventive services may be more effective than other incentives