Why are Financial Incentives not Effective at Influencing Some Smokers to Quit? Results of a Process Evaluation of a Worksite Trial Assessing the Efficacy of Financial Incentives for Smoking Cessation

Abstract

Financial incentives are ineffective at motivating some smokers to quit. Internal motivation and readiness to quit need to be sufficiently high for relatively modest incentives to be effective.

A qualitative evidence synthesis of employees’ views of workplace smoking reduction or cessation interventions

“…This was linked to beliefs about smoking . Smokers described the health and social benefits of smoking: Enjoyment [29,35,36], stress reduction or relaxation [35,36], contact with friends and co-workers [29] and concerns about weight gain were they to stop [33,36]. Many non-smokers reported disliking smoking; but there were also smokers and non-smokers who felt there was no problem with smoking either at work or elsewhere [30,37].…”

“…Eight studies using employee interviews, focus groups, discussion board posts or surveys reported that participants found it helpful when their employer was clearly supportive of either smoking restrictions or interventions [26,29,31,34]. Employers could also be supportive by simply making participatory interventions available, thus offering their employees an opportunity to access a programme [26,35,38,39]. The issue could be different when the intervention was a workplace restriction or ban.…”

“…This might relate to the nature of the materials: “many participants attributed their success to the easy-to-follow, step-by-step program approach of the booklets and cassette tapes” [38]. Alternatively, the failure to make certain resources, such as a counsellor or support groups, available at a convenient time and place, was cited as a barrier to effective participation [26,35]. The cost of alternatives was also found to be an issue: Some employees felt unable to participate without the provision of free products [26,29,40].…”

Evaluation of the effectiveness of a WHO-5A model based comprehensive tobacco control program among migrant workers in Guangdong, China: a pilot study

“…Conducting smoking cessation interventions in the workplaces, including recruitment and regular follow-ups is necessary, given the high smoking rate among the workers; but also feasible as they work together and spend most of their daily time in their workplace [14]. Previous studies have suggested the efficacy of smoking cessation interventions in the workplace [15][16][17][18][19]. Several intervention approaches have shown to be effective for tobacco control including individual or group counselling, pharmacotherapy, and incentives.…”

“…Several intervention approaches have shown to be effective for tobacco control including individual or group counselling, pharmacotherapy, and incentives. However, these approaches are often used in developed countries [15][16][17]. In developing countries, approaches such as environmental support or self-help interventions were often reported, which were however shown to be less effective [18,19].…”