A Field Experiment on the Impact of Incentives on Milk Choice in the Lunchroom

21 Pages Posted: 2 Feb 2015 Last revised: 27 Oct 2015

See all articles by John A. List

John A. List

University of Chicago - Department of Economics

Anya Samek

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) - Rady School of Management; Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR)

Date Written: December 31, 2014

Abstract

Almost a third of US children ages 2-19 are deemed overweight or obese, and part of the problem is the habitual decision to consume high calorie, low nutrient foods. We propose that the school lunchroom provides a ‘teachable moment’ to engage children in making healthful choices. We conduct a field experiment with over 1,500 participants in grades K-8 and evaluate the impact of small non-monetary incentives on the selection of milk in the school lunchroom. At baseline, only 16% of children select white milk relative to 84% choosing chocolate milk. We find a significant effect of incentives, which increase white milk selection by 2.5 times, to 40%. One concern with incentives is that they may decrease intrinsic motivation to eat healthy, called ‘crowd-out of intrinsic motivation.’ However, we do not find evidence of ‘crowd-out’; rather, we see some suggestive evidence of the positive habit forming effect of incentives.

Keywords: field experiment, children, incentives, food choice

JEL Classification: C72, C91

Suggested Citation

List, John A. and Samek, Anya, A Field Experiment on the Impact of Incentives on Milk Choice in the Lunchroom (December 31, 2014). Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics Working Paper No. 2558604, CESR-Schaeffer Working Paper 2015-028, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2558604 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2558604

John A. List

University of Chicago - Department of Economics ( email )

1126 East 59th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
United States

Anya Samek (Contact Author)

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) - Rady School of Management ( email )

9500 Gilman Drive #0553
Rady School of Management
La Jolla, CA 92093-0553
United States

HOME PAGE: http://anyasamek.com

Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) ( email )

635 Downey Way
Los Angeles, CA 90089-3332
United States

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