Vitality reveals incentives can have the greatest impact on physical activity for older customers
03 August 2023
Incentives have the greatest impact on older customers
Vitality has today revealed that, despite common assumptions, incentives can have an even greater impact on exercise levels for the over 50s than younger generations. The insights come from new analysis on members’ exercise habits at different ages.
Members of all ages can track their physical activity (e.g., steps, heart-rate workouts and gym visits) to earn points and unlock rewards. The data revealed that on average older, engaged members are more active than younger members.
According to the findings, while members of all ages are highly active, those over the age of 50 record approximately 11% more active days monthly (15.7) than those younger than them (14.1).
One of the most popular rewards is Apple Watch – something older members are benefitting from the most. The data indicates, on average, those over 60 using this benefit improved their activity by 15% more than those under 30.
By offering a unique set of rewards and benefits with wide appeal, Vitality can engage with its full member base, allowing it to outperform available industry benchmarks.
Data from Vitality’s Britain’s Healthiest Workplace study shows that on average, just 4.9%* of employees engage with health and wellbeing apps available in the market. Vitality significantly exceeds this, with more than 50% of members on our Business and Corporate plans (where comparable benchmarks exist) engaging within one month of the plan starting – a ten times higher** rate of engagement than the market.
Nick Read, Managing Director, Vitality Programme said: “Making healthy decisions is not easy. At Vitality, we know first-hand that it takes a complex combination of nudges and incentives to truly bring about sustainable behaviour change.
Making the decision to get active is beneficial for health at all ages, so it’s positive to see that our business is driving engagement among all age groups. However, it’s particularly great to see the over 50s making healthy lifestyle changes and reaping the benefits of the Vitality Programme, as we understand the importance of getting active at older ages to improve people’s longevity and promote healthy ageing.”
Figures are based on engaged members in 2022
*Employee participation with digital wellbeing apps, Britain’s Healthiest Workplace (BHW) 2022.
**Employee engagement with Vitality Programme, Vitality data 2022-23