Constructing a Wellness Challenge: Social Proof and Competition

In my last post I introduced the Prevention & Wellness community and explained why promoting wellness is such an important part of healthcare reform. What was left as open question is how exactly do we motivate people to take better care of themselves?

Now, I would like to discuss two powerful ideas that should help jumpstart our creativity. First Wikipedia definitions:

Social Proof: Also known as informational social influence, is a psychological phenomenon that occurs in ambiguous social situations when people are unable to determine the appropriate mode of behavior. Making the assumption that surrounding people possess more knowledge about the situation, they will deem the behavior of others as appropriate or better informed.

Competition: Is the rivalry of two or more parties for something. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which coexist in an environment with limited resources. For example, animals compete over water supplies, food, and mates. In addition, humans compete for recognition, wealth and entertainment.

The relevance to wellness and prevention should be quite clear. Healthy behaviors, including diet, fitness, exercise and preventive medicine stand a better chance of adoption if there is a social proof resulting in peer pressure to act. Competition, when encouraged in its benign form, can further reinforce people's engagement. If combined with a strong reward program competition and social proof can drive a real behavior change.

A recent study published in NEJM demonstrated how social ties can drive unhealthy outcomes, such as obesity. Unfortunately when people are left to their own devices their interest in health often falls by wayside, ultimately costing them and the society. That is why health promotion should be created by design, utilizing the same social proof and competition principles.

Now I would like to present a challenge of my own. What forms of competition, peer pressure and social proof do you personally believe would incent you and your friends to pay greater attention to your health?

I am very interested in finding the best ideas, especially the ones that have some evidence backing them up.