WayBetter
| Private | |
| ISIN | 🆔 |
| Industry | Digital health, Behavioral science |
| Founded 📆 | 2011 |
| Founder 👔 | Jamie Rosen |
Area served 🗺️ | |
| Products 📟 | DietBet, StepBet, RunBet, QuitBet, WayBetter App |
| Members | |
Number of employees | |
| 🌐 Website | waybetter.app |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
WayBetter is a privately held American health technology company that develops apps using gamification and behavioral science to promote healthy habits.
Founded in 2011 by Jamie Rosen, the company initially launched as DietBet, a platform where users commit money toward weight loss goals. In 2014, the company rebranded as WayBetter to reflect a broader focus on wellness behaviors including fitness, nutrition, and mental health.
History
WayBetter began as DietBet, where users placed a small financial stake on meeting personal weight-loss goals, typically aiming to lose 4% of their body weight in four weeks. Successful participants earned back their entry fee and shared in a prize pool. The idea was based on behavioral economics principles, such as commitment contracts and loss aversion..[1]
The company's approach gained attention in mainstream media. A 2013 Wall Street Journal article noted the rise of “social dieting” apps like DietBet, highlighting how financial incentives can be leveraged for weight loss[2]. The New York Times also discussed the broader science behind self-tracking and gamification in fitness as early as 2009 [3], while the Financial Times described gamified health apps, including WayBetter, as part of a shift in how individuals engage with wellness technologies [4]
Following its initial success, WayBetter launched several new products:
- StepBet (2016): Walking challenges using personalized step goals synced with fitness trackers.
- RunBet (2018): Games encouraging consistent running routines.
- QuitBet (2019): A smoking cessation game supported by a grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
- WayBetter app (2020): A subscription-based app with a wider range of behavior change games targeting exercise, diet, sleep, and stress management.
As of 2024, StepBet is operated by Appex Group, Inc.
Approach to Behavior Change
WayBetter's model is rooted in behavioral science. Its games often involve deposit contracts, where users commit a small amount of money they risk losing unless they meet predefined health goals. This mechanism draws on theories of loss aversion and pre-commitment [5]. The platform also incorporates social accountability and small, trackable goals—techniques shown to support habit formation [6]
Academic literature has evaluated the effectiveness of these methods. A 2023 real-world study of StepBet showed a statistically significant increase in physical activity among participants using deposit-based gamification [7]. Earlier peer-reviewed work analyzed DietBet’s use of social gaming and financial incentives to support weight loss [8]. A behavioral economics study also found that self-betting mechanisms, like those used by WayBetter, can function as effective commitment devices for weight-related goals [9].
Continued academic interest
Economists and health scientists continue to study the company’s approach as a real-world application of health behavior change theory, especially in relation to how financial incentives influence sustained health behavior change.
This article "WayBetter" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:WayBetter. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
- ↑ Buisonjé, David R. de; Reijnders, Thomas; Rodrigues, Talia R. Cohen; Prabhakaran, Santhanam; Kowatsch, Tobias; Lipman, Stefan A.; Bijmolt, Tammo H. A.; Breeman, Linda D.; Janssen, Veronica R.; Kraaijenhagen, Roderik A.; Kemps, Hareld M. C.; Evers, Andrea W. M. (6 October 2022). "Investigating Rewards and Deposit Contract Financial Incentives for Physical Activity Behavior Change Using a Smartphone App: Randomized Controlled Trial". Journal of Medical Internet Research. 24 (10): e38339. doi:10.2196/38339. PMC 11042509 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 36201384 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Shellenbarger, Sue (9 January 2013). "Office Weight-Loss Contests Rise, Saboteurs and All". Wall Street Journal.
- ↑ Grayson, Pamela Weiler (5 February 2009). "Dieting? Put your money where your fat is (Published 2009)". New York Times.
- ↑ Noonan, Laura; McGee, Patrick (4 May 2018). "Fit Hacks: join our first running challenge". Financial Times.
- ↑ Lipman, Stefan A. (April 2024). "One size fits all? Designing financial incentives tailored to individual economic preferences" (PDF). Behavioural Public Policy. 8 (2): 264–278. doi:10.1017/bpp.2020.21.
- ↑ Gardner, Benjamin; Lally, Phillippa; Wardle, Jane (1 December 2012). "Making health habitual: the psychology of 'habit-formation' and general practice". British Journal of General Practice. 62 (605): 664–666. doi:10.3399/bjgp12X659466. ISSN 0960-1643. PMC 3505409. PMID 23211256.
- ↑ de Buisonjé, David R.; Brosig, Fiona; Breeman, Linda D.; Bloom, Erika Litvin; Reijnders, Thomas; Janssen, Veronica R.; Kraaijenhagen, Roderik A.; Kemps, Hareld M. C.; Evers, Andrea W. M. (1 March 2023). "Put your money where your feet are: The real-world effects of StepBet gamified deposit contracts for physical activity". Internet Interventions. 31: 100610. doi:10.1016/j.invent.2023.100610. ISSN 2214-7829. PMC 9982638 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 36873308 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Leahey, Tricia; Rosen, Jamie (7 February 2014). "DietBet: A Web-Based Program that Uses Social Gaming and Financial Incentives to Promote Weight Loss". JMIR Serious Games. 2 (1): e2. doi:10.2196/games.2987. ISSN 2291-9279. PMC 4307813. PMID 25658966.
- ↑ Hirt-Schierbaum, Linda; Ivets, Maryna (2020). "You Can Win by Losing! Using Self-Betting as a Commitment Device: Evidence from a Weight Loss Program" (PDF). Ruhr Economic Papers. 881. doi:10.4419/96973020.
