“Carrot and stick” model is the most obvious feature that makes Carrot different from other similar application. Carrot means rewards and stick means punishment. This is a creative idea to motivate people to keep exercising. Additionally, this function is not compulsive, users could use it and could refuse as well. It is flexible. This article will discuss how it works and what measures could be taken to make sure it does work.
How does “carrot and stick” work?
Every user could create a group in the application. Take running as an example. A runner could create a 5km running group and anyone can join this group. Group members could set a goal of every race in the group, for example, finishing 5km running in 30mins. Group creator sets the amount of money every group member should pledge before a race. And the amount could be discussed and decided by group members as well. After a race, people who finished 5km in 30mins will get the reward raised by all group members while people fail to finish the goal will lose their pledge. The reward will be equally distributed to all winners.
How to make people exercise for health rather than money?
The high reward will make people run for money rather than health. To avoid this, we should set rules about the upper limit of pledge and reward distribution. Everyone’s contribution should be less than 1 pound and maybe 20 pence is enough. What’s more, we should also be careful about the definition of the winner. If winners are few, every winner will get more money while others will feel unfair. So we should set rules to enlarge the number of winners. Of course, we have a clear ranking, but the goal should be set lower which could make sure most people could finish the goal and win reward. There are rich statistical data about people’s average record. The system will regulate the upper goal based on sports data which will guarantee the group goal is general rather than professional. In this way, there will be less economic interest involved and every group member could have the chance to win and will lose less money if they fail to get the goal.
How to avoid cheat?
Since this model involves with pecuniary benefit, to get reward some people may cheat in the race(dog wearing devices, handshaking, etc.). As a result, there should be technologies measures to avoid these situations. Firstly, the Motion trail must display on your application vision based on GPS and anyone else in the same group with you will watch and supervise it. Secondly, your real-time speed will display on the application and the system could detect it. If it is above the normal level, it will be regarded as a cheat. And the cheater will lose their pledge in this race.
These rules and technologies cannot absolutely avoid cheat, but it could substantially guarantee a fair race and encourage people to keep exercise to seek a healthy lifestyle.