Value Incentive Unveils IPO Prospectus: Pioneering Value-Based Engagement in Digital Health

What is value incentive?

There are many different reasons behind our choices of what to do, how to do it, and why we do it. Sometimes we take proactive action driven by inner desires and aspirations; at other times, our behavior is motivated by the hope of obtaining external rewards and praise. Motivation theory suggests that individual behavior is often driven by the desire to fulfill internal needs or to receive rewards.

Motivation theory originated as a concept in human resources or management theory and is closely related to organizational behavior, organizational structure, and dynamics. In modern enterprise management, the model of the psychological process of motivation can be described as follows: needs arise, leading to motivation, which triggers behavior directed toward goals. Research indicates that when motivated, an individual can utilize more than 80% of their capabilities; without motivation, they can utilize at most 30%.

With the development of interdisciplinary studies and the widespread adoption of the internet, value incentive theory has been widely applied across various industries, such as incentive-driven fitness apps and the “follow” and “like” features in various social media platforms.

“Value Incentive” refers to value-based incentives. Here, “value” extends beyond mere monetary worth in the economic sense; it broadly encompasses moral, cultural, psychological and spiritual dimensions, as well as learning and experience, and even includes gifts and souvenirs.

The core drivers of value-based incentives include: developmental achievements, creativity, sense of mission, acquisitiveness, social influence, and curiosity about the unknown, among others.

Classification of Value-Based Incentives
By examining how various incentive mechanisms influence individuals to take specific actions, incentives have been categorized into different types. The most common and widely applied classification comprises the following four major categories:



Compensation Incentives & Fiscal Incentives
When individuals can anticipate or are promised some form of material reward, particularly money, compensation and goods attract people to act in specific ways.

Moral Incentives
When a particular choice is widely recognized by the public as correct or particularly admirable, or when acting in a certain way is deemed indecent and deserving of censure, moral sense motivates and constrains individual behavior.

Mandatory Incentives
When an individual anticipates that the consequences of failing to perform a specific action will be severe—such as facing penalties, imprisonment, or confiscation of all assets—coercive incentives can alter their subjective perceptions and behavioral patterns.

Natural Incentives
such as curiosity, spirit, physical exercise, admiration, fear, anger, pain, happiness, the pursuit of truth, and a powerful sense of control over people, things, and even the world.

Medical Value Incentive Program
Value-based incentive programs are designed to promote or encourage specific target groups to undertake particular actions or behaviors within a defined period. Initially, such programs were used in corporate management to incentivize employees or in promotions to attract customers. Today, value-based incentive mechanisms have been adopted across various industries. In the field of healthcare and nursing, the Value-Based Incentive Collaborative Research Institute has several projects that have been completed, are currently being implemented, or are under consideration:



• Evaluate the Medical Value Incentive Program
Directly applying economic incentives to healthcare may lead to certain biases. Strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration can help clarify the significant differences between economic and medical incentives, and facilitate the exploration of accurate and efficient evaluation methods.

• Launch the Medical Value Incentive Program
It is understood that many companies have proposed value-based healthcare innovation initiatives. These projects have enhanced public understanding of value-based incentives, significantly promoted the prospects for collaborative development, and recommended their practical application in future work to turn them into reality. During implementation, to accurately identify and comprehensively consider various value orientations, these companies plan to develop a classifier and provide a widely applicable analytical framework for value-based incentives.

• Engage patients in the process of “value-based incentivized healthcare services”
Close collaboration among all stakeholders can boost participant enthusiasm and facilitate the identification of win-win solutions. For instance, to enhance transparency in healthcare services and broaden the reach of health education, patients can be encouraged to participate through value-based incentives. Specifically, this involves evaluating existing value-based initiatives and “medical transparency” programs, with a focus on securing patient support, providing channels for patient feedback, and meeting patients’ demands for high-quality care.

Application of Value-Based Incentives in Healthcare Apps
Fitness and weight loss are topics that people discuss constantly. Many individuals resolve to start their fitness and weight-loss journeys by downloading fitness apps, but how many actually persist and achieve their goals? Maintaining a consistent exercise routine is no easy feat; a significant proportion of users abandon their fitness endeavors due to a lack of sustained motivation.



In light of this situation, several popular apps have innovatively adopted user incentive mechanisms, primarily encouraging users through merchant-sponsored activities. Incorporating incentive mechanisms within apps can boost user confidence, thereby increasing the frequency of app usage. Incentive strategies such as gamification, weight-loss communities, and customized weight-loss planning can promote adherence to exercise routines and dietary control, helping users achieve their fitness and weight-loss goals. For example:

GymPact（2012）
Reward and Penalty Mechanism: Achieving exercise goals earns cash rewards, while failing to fulfill exercise commitments incurs a penalty of $5 to $50 per instance.

Noom Weight Loss Coach（2012）
Various Incentive and Reward Features: Seamlessly tracks weight loss exercises and dietary status, incorporating a variety of incentive and reward mechanisms. By entering only minimal basic information, the app can comprehensively monitor your weight loss journey.

MyFitnessPal（2005）
Self-Tracking and Social Sharing: Log daily calorie intake and expenditure with real-time updates, making it easier to track the consumption of calories, fats, proteins, and other nutrients. Additionally, you can add friends from various social networks to view their food intake and calorie expenditure records, thereby motivating yourself.

Currently, although research on value-based incentives in China has achieved notable results in areas such as employee performance and social interaction, many incentive designs remain impractical and superficial. This is likely due to a lack of understanding of how incentive measures affect human behavior. We can draw inspiration from the broader perspectives of international incentive theory research, such as examining incentive mechanisms through the lenses of needs, fairness, and other dimensions. According to value-based incentive theory, individuals exhibit different types of motivation. Future research could explore specific incentive methods from the perspective of motivational types, designing tailored incentive strategies for individuals with different motivational profiles.

Text | Chen Kun

Editor: Huang Jia