Page 55 - Hard Goals

46 HARD Goals

undermined their intrinsic motivation to quit, the incentive did
not actually increase their smoking cessation rates and they had
higher relapse rates.
Read that and you might be inclined to think rewards like
money kill off any real motivation. Not so. You see, one of the
big questions we have to ask in a study like this is, what were
the actual fi nancial incentives? Because when we do, we fi nd
out that fi rst there was the reward of a ceramic coffee mug. And
second, there were drawings whereby study participants had
some statistical possibility of winning a trip to Hawaii, the San
Juan Islands, or downtown Seattle.
As a former smoker, let me offer a commentary on these
“fi nancial incentives.” First, that coffee mug could have been
delivered with candy and a stripper and it wouldn’t have gotten
anywhere near motivating me to quit smoking. Heck, given the
number of swag coffee mugs I’ve got around the house, I’d prob-
ably be willing to pay the researchers to keep the darn thing.
It’s practically a disincentive to quit. And by the way, the only
thing better than a cigarette, is a cigarette with coffee. So that’s
a really good subliminal reminder to smoke. Jeez, why didn’t
they just send a lighter and a pack of Marlboros?
And the raffl e for a trip to Hawaii? If those study partici-
pants were even a little mathematically inclined, they’d guess the
retail price of the trip at $3,000 (just to pick a round number),
then they’d say, “My odds of winning are 1 in 300 (0.3%)” or
whatever, and then they’d discover that the trip has an expected
monetary value of about $10 ($3,000 × 0.3% = $10). Without
some deeper emotional connection, no smoker on earth will be
motivated to quit by offering him or her $10 and a coffee mug
reminder to smoke more.