first - year , undergraduate women living on campus ( n  =  5,978 ) were eligible to participate in the body project program through their on - campus residential hall .
a total of 430 women signed up to participate in the program across fall and spring semesters of one academic year . during the implementation of the body project , an online study of health behaviors and social networks was simultaneously occurring .
this study conducted online assessments of first - year undergraduate women at the end of each semester and included questions regarding participation in the body project program .
data from the women residing at the targeted residence halls were abstracted from the dataset .
a total of 588 ( mage  =  18.69  years , age range : 1832  years ) women endorsed living on campus and not participating in the body project . these participants were asked questions related to why they did not participate in the program .
the online study had institutional review board approval , and participants provided online consent prior to completing the online questionnaires .
the body project is an empirically supported body acceptance program based on cognitive dissonance theory .
extensive research supports the program s efficacy , effectiveness , and dissemination among college populations ( becker et al . , 2008 ; perez , becker , & ramirez , 2010 ) .
all body project workshops were run through the university s student development and health and wellness programming at targeted residence halls .
information regarding student development , health , and mental health programs occurring within the residential community is advertised through email sent by the community director of the respective residence hall .
residents received one email per week advertising the program and offering an incentive to participate .
email advertising was randomized so that emails received fall semester vaguely described the program , strategically not stating that this was a body acceptance or eating disorder prevention program .
the email provided a colorful picture of the face of a woman , underneath the email was composed of four sections labelled  what we are about , 
 past participants have said ,   incentives to participate ,  and  link to sign up .
 the  what we are about  section highlighted that this was a program for undergraduate women by undergraduate women , that it was fun , and focused on personal growth and women s issues .
spring semester , residents received emails that disclosed the program was a body acceptance program .
the emails distributed were structured like the fall semester emails , with the exception that under the  what we are about  section , the following quote was added :  do nt change your body to get respect from society .
the email highlighted that this was a body acceptance program for undergraduate women by undergraduate women , that it was fun , and that it focused on personal growth and women s issues .
a series of focus groups was conducted with university staff ( directors of health and wellness programming , directors of greek life , and community directors who oversee residential life programming ) and undergraduate women ( panhellenic sorority presidents , officers of three women s issue student organizations , and 25 women from diverse student organizations ) to identify incentives .
the university staff suggested incentives such as t - shirts , which were financially unsustainable , a free meal ( i.e. , pizza ) , or a free dessert ( i.e. , ice cream ) .
undergraduate women suggested pairing with other student organizations , offering cash for participation , or a free service , such as a manicure - pedicure treatment .
based on these results , six incentives were implemented and evaluated : ( a ) fashion style training  one student organization based on making  fashion fit your body and reflect your personality ,  offered free personal styling and in return , this organization received free marketing and a constant supply of new members ; ( b ) $ 100 lottery 
individuals would have their named entered into a lottery , with three opportunities to win $ 100 ; ( c ) ice cream party  the largest group of  friends  ( defined loosely as residential hall floor , sorority , or group of friends ) to attend a session would receive a free ice cream party ; ( d ) free pizza  provided during the workshop ; ( e ) referral  a snowball sampling strategy was employed where the participant earned $ 10 for each friend they brought to the workshop . a snowball sampling strategy is a commonly used chain referral sampling technique where participants refer peers to participate and was originally designed to recruit hard - to - reach populations ( paquette , bryant , & de wit , 2012 ; sadler , lee , lim , & fullerton , 2010 ; sedgwick , 2013 ) as well as a method for reducing attrition between follow up sessions ( sedgwick , 2013 ) .
, 2012 ) ; ( f ) manicure / pedicure gift certificate  local nail salons surrounding the university were asked to donate gift certificates in return for free advertising . in addition , we negotiated with one salon that for every two gift certificates purchased , they would provide a third gift certificate for free ( i.e. , buy two , get one free ) .
the online questionnaire asked women if they participated in the body project with a yes or no category response .
those who selected  no  received a second question inquiring why they did not participate and were given the following options : lack of knowledge , lack of interest , inconvenient times , inconvenient locations , stigma associated with this type of program , friends could not attend , i had no one to go with , or other .
first - year , undergraduate women living on campus ( n  =  5,978 ) were eligible to participate in the body project program through their on - campus residential hall .
a total of 430 women signed up to participate in the program across fall and spring semesters of one academic year . during the implementation of the body project , an online study of health behaviors and social networks was simultaneously occurring .
this study conducted online assessments of first - year undergraduate women at the end of each semester and included questions regarding participation in the body project program .
data from the women residing at the targeted residence halls were abstracted from the dataset .
a total of 588 ( mage  =  18.69  years , age range : 1832  years ) women endorsed living on campus and not participating in the body project . these participants were asked questions related to why they did not participate in the program .
the online study had institutional review board approval , and participants provided online consent prior to completing the online questionnaires .
the body project is an empirically supported body acceptance program based on cognitive dissonance theory .
extensive research supports the program s efficacy , effectiveness , and dissemination among college populations ( becker et al . , 2008 ; perez , becker , & ramirez , 2010 ) .
all body project workshops were run through the university s student development and health and wellness programming at targeted residence halls .
information regarding student development , health , and mental health programs occurring within the residential community is advertised through email sent by the community director of the respective residence hall . given the existing structure ,
residents received one email per week advertising the program and offering an incentive to participate .
email advertising was randomized so that emails received fall semester vaguely described the program , strategically not stating that this was a body acceptance or eating disorder prevention program .
the email provided a colorful picture of the face of a woman , underneath the email was composed of four sections labelled 
past participants have said ,   incentives to participate ,  and  link to sign up . 
the  what we are about  section highlighted that this was a program for undergraduate women by undergraduate women , that it was fun , and focused on personal growth and women s issues .
spring semester , residents received emails that disclosed the program was a body acceptance program .
the emails distributed were structured like the fall semester emails , with the exception that under the  what we are about  section , the following quote was added :  do nt change your body to get respect from society .
 the email highlighted that this was a body acceptance program for undergraduate women by undergraduate women , that it was fun , and that it focused on personal growth and women s issues .
a series of focus groups was conducted with university staff ( directors of health and wellness programming , directors of greek life , and community directors who oversee residential life programming ) and undergraduate women ( panhellenic sorority presidents , officers of three women s issue student organizations , and 25 women from diverse student organizations ) to identify incentives .
the university staff suggested incentives such as t - shirts , which were financially unsustainable , a free meal ( i.e. , pizza ) , or a free dessert ( i.e. , ice cream ) .
undergraduate women suggested pairing with other student organizations , offering cash for participation , or a free service , such as a manicure - pedicure treatment .
based on these results , six incentives were implemented and evaluated : ( a ) fashion style training  one student organization based on making  fashion fit your body and reflect your personality ,  offered free personal styling and in return , this organization received free marketing and a constant supply of new members ; ( b ) $ 100 lottery 
individuals would have their named entered into a lottery , with three opportunities to win $ 100 ; ( c ) ice cream party  the largest group of  friends  ( defined loosely as residential hall floor , sorority , or group of friends ) to attend a session would receive a free ice cream party ; ( d ) free pizza  provided during the workshop ; ( e ) referral  a snowball sampling strategy was employed where the participant earned $ 10 for each friend they brought to the workshop . a snowball sampling strategy is a commonly used chain referral sampling technique where participants refer peers to participate and was originally designed to recruit hard - to - reach populations ( paquette , bryant , & de wit , 2012 ; sadler , lee , lim , & fullerton , 2010 ; sedgwick , 2013 ) as well as a method for reducing attrition between follow up sessions ( sedgwick , 2013 ) .
2012 ) ; ( f ) manicure / pedicure gift certificate  local nail salons surrounding the university were asked to donate gift certificates in return for free advertising .
in addition , we negotiated with one salon that for every two gift certificates purchased , they would provide a third gift certificate for free ( i.e. , buy two , get one free ) .
the online questionnaire asked women if they participated in the body project with a yes or no category response . those who selected  no  received a second question inquiring why they did not participate and were given the following options : lack of knowledge , lack of interest , inconvenient times , inconvenient locations , stigma associated with this type of program
, friends could not attend , i had no one to go with , or other .
the statistical analyses for the current study were predominantly descriptive in nature . to compare the two email advertisements based on participation numbers and number of targeted women , a 22 table was created , and a chi square analysis was used .
there were 4,297 female residents who received emails advertising a body acceptance program , of which 200 ( 5.82% ) participated in the program .
there were a total of 1,681 female residents who received emails advertising the program as a personal growth program , of which 263 ( 24% ) participated in the program .
this differential participation rate was statistically significant ,  ( 1 )  =  167.78 , p  <  .01 .
a cost analysis was conducted where the total amount of money spent on each incentive was divided by the total number of participants that signed up online while that incentive was offered .
table 1 presents participation rates by incentive strategy and the cost per person for each incentive . during baseline ,
the two most popular incentives were gift certificates for free manicure or pedicure and free personal fashion style training gift certificates , which accounted for 70% of the total participation . moreover , personal fashion style training was the most cost - effective of these popular incentives.table 1 .
participation rates as a function of incentive offered and cost.incentivepercentage of participantscost per personmanicure / pedicure gift certificate37$1.88fashion style training33freereferral11$8.47$100 lottery8$8.82no incentive offered4$0free pizza3$28.47free ice cream4$3.71 
 note .
the total amount of money spent on each incentive was divided by the total number of participants that signed up online while that incentive was offered . 
 
the total amount of money spent on each incentive was divided by the total number of participants that signed up online while that incentive was offered .
a frequency analysis was conducted to examine the reasons provided for not participating in the program .
nineteen individuals did not report a reason for not participating in the body project and , therefore , were deleted from the analyses .
table 2 displays the percentage of endorsement per item given the total sample of the 569 women who completed the question .
though more than half ( 56% ) did not know about the program , nearly a third ( 28% ) reported their friends could not attend , which prevented their participation.table 2 .
reasons for not participating in the program.reasonpercentage of endorsementfriends could not go28no one to go with8did not know about the program56stigma3inconvenient time20inconvenient location3lack of interest14 
 note .
the objective of this study was to evaluate two types of email recruitment techniques and six incentive strategies for engaging women in a body acceptance program .
in particular , partnerships with local vendors and student organizations can lead to unique , cost effective and sustainable incentives that promote prevention programs as well as supporting businesses and organizations . potentially due to the stigma of mental health programs ,
advertisements specific to the mental health directive of the prevention program were not as successful as the utilization of a vague goal ( i.e. , personal growth ) .
this finding may have important implications for improving recruitment strategies currently employed by health - related programs . in the business world
, there is a widespread belief that consumers increasingly desire their prizes ( or incentives ) as soon as they ve won them ; this is potentially due to the popularity of the immediate gratification provided in online gaming (  speeding the reward ,  1998 ) .
it is possible that the two best incentives ( accounting for 70% of the participants ) were so successful because they fit into this immediate gratification model ; participants received the gift certificates for manicures / pedicures or free fashion advice immediately following the session .
conversely , this model may explain why some incentives were less effective ; the referral , lottery , and free ice cream party were received up to a month after the session was completed . though the free pizza incentive fits the instant gratification model , it was the least effective incentive provided in this comparison
. this may be due to the negative stereotypes that apply to those who eat excessively ( herman , rother , & polivy , 2003 ) and to those who eat  bad 
( i.e. , fattening ) foods ( vartanian , herman , & polivy , 2007 ) .
a significant concern for most people is to be seen positively by others ; therefore , in a group setting , where social comparison is already high , offering an unhealthy food option may be too anxiety provoking and lead to increased body image insecurities , especially in those already high in eating pathology .
interestingly , potential participants were less likely to attend when their friends could not attend .
moreover , research has found that women feel more comfortable , have greater ease in expressing themselves , are more likely to reveal sensitive information , and report greater overall satisfaction with programming and greater group cohesion when attending prevention programs with friends ( harper , dolcini , benhorin , watson , & boyer , 2014 ) .
future research should investigate successful strategies to integrate social networks not only for increased participation but also for greater satisfaction among participants .
first , 56% of students reported they did not know about the body project despite receiving multiple emails ; this may have been due to emails being overlooked in the mass of institutional emails that are sent daily or the email content not attracting students .
although we had a large sample size of women that did not participate in the program but were assessed through the online questionnaire , this still only represented 17% of the women living on campus and , thus , may not accurately represent the entire population of undergraduate women living on campus .
third , participant perceptions of the incentives were not assessed which can assist in understanding why some incentives work better than others .
this report serves to inform the effectiveness of recruitment and incentive strategies that may improve the dissemination of evidence - based prevention programs on college campuses .
 abstractthe objective of this study  getting individuals to participate in eating disorder prevention programs  is difficult yet crucial for dissemination efforts . 
 little research has investigated what incentive strategies can be particularly efficacious , and even less is published on their cost - effectiveness . 
 the following study examined two types of email advertisements and six incentive strategies in an empirically supported body acceptance program disseminated at a large university . 
 a total of 5,978 undergraduate women received email advertisements , of which 430 signed up to participate . 
 an additional 588 who did not participate were assessed . 
 results suggest the most effective incentives were offering gift certificates for free manicure services and free personal fashion style training gift certificates from a student organization . 
 undergraduate women were least likely to attend due to lack of knowledge about the program , not having a friend to attend with them , or inconvenient times . 
 implications for future research are explored . 
Methods
Participants
Body Project Program
Recruitment and procedures
Incentives
Online questionnaire
Results
Discussion