via Location-based app uses peer pressure to motivate users
We’ve seen countless initiatives set up to motivate people into completing tasks they may otherwise shy away from. Take SmartyCard’s website that rewards kids with tangible prizes for completing educational games, or Switch2Health, who use a reward-based scheme to motivate children to exercise. However, when choosing how to best motivate an older audience, German-based GetUpp have taken a different approach, focusing on shame and peer pressure rather than rewards.
To begin using the GetUpp app, users enter a commitment they would like to meet, such as going to the gym after work. In that case, they would then enter the location of the gym, and what time they should arrive there. Once the commitment is submitted, the user’s friends can vote on whether they believe their companion will succeed in fulfilling it. The user meanwhile, must strive to arrive at their predetermined location at the correct time. If they are successful, they then open the app and submit their coordinates, which are verified using the phone’s GPS. GetUpp will then broadcast this success to the user’s friends. The flip side however, is that it will also broadcast any failures to meet commitments, exposing the user to whatever humiliation their friends choose to bestow upon them.
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