A Biter's Market
In honor of Halloween, this is a nice little article about kids and incentives. Government policy makers are always looking for incentives to motivate us to act in a certain way. Read the article and respond to at least two of the five questions listed at the bottom of the article. Also can you think of any unintended consequences that might arise from this seemingly well meaning act.
26 comments:
1. What other sorts of behaviors might dentists want to subsidize? What are some other examples of when a healthcare provider tries to encourage a healthy behavior?
Well, instead of subsidizing the actual candy products, dentists can subsidize products that have a direct correlation with teeth health- items such as toothpaste or toothbrushes.
Health providers encourage healthy behavior by checking if a person has a low HBA1C, microalbunin count,and especially BMI. With the health risks involved with these numbers(diabetes, hypertension), healthcare providers are usually more inclined to work with insurance companies to reduce the patient's medical cost, hence, encouraging a healthier behavior.
2. Why might a program, like the one above, be unsuccessful at reducing candy consumption?
Because kids will simply get more candy than they usually get and keep all of their favorite brands/flavors. The amount of candy consumed will not necessary decrease.
A possible unintended consequence might be that some people will take advantage of the system and attempt to actually earn some money.
3. How much money would you need to be paid to sell a pound of Halloween candy? How much candy would you sell if you had five pounds? What about fifty pounds?
if i was a child, i would want around ten dollars per pound because that way i could probably buy myself even more candy. if i had five pounds of candy i would sell all of it, but if i had fifty lbs i would save a little bit and use the money on something more valuable.
4. Do you think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy? In what way?
the amount of money a child has will change his view of the value of the money to him or her. if they grew up with a lot of money they may vaue the candy more than the money, but if they grew up not having money then they might value the money more than the candy
the unintended consequence would be that the child may become more money oriented instead of enjoying a innocent holiday
3. How much money would you need to be paid to sell a pound of Halloween candy? How much candy would you sell if you had five pounds? What about fifty pounds?
if i was a child, i would want around ten dollars per pound because that way i could probably buy myself even more candy. if i had five pounds of candy i would sell all of it, but if i had fifty lbs i would save a little bit and use the money on something more valuable.
4. Do you think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy? In what way?
the amount of money a child has will change his view of the value of the money to him or her. if they grew up with a lot of money they may vaue the candy more than the money, but if they grew up not having money then they might value the money more than the candy
3. How much money would you need to be paid to sell a pound of Halloween candy? How much candy would you sell if you had five pounds? What about fifty pounds?
I would need to be paid at least 10 times the cost of the retail price of the pound of Halloween candy to be satisfied. Yes I would be willing to sell 5 pounds and 50 pounds of candy because I do not really have a sweet tooth so having more than 1 pound of candy would be useless to me. So I would rather sell it and make a profit instead of just throwing it all always in the dumpster.
4. Do you think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy? In what way?
Yes I do think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy because if the child already have a sufficient amount of money to buy a toy, he or she would feel less likely to sell her precious candy to get that new toy because it can already purchase the new toy without trading in hits candy. But if a child has no money and Is wanting to buy a new toy, he or she will be more willing to trade in its candy for money to buy that new toy.
2. Why might a program, like the one above, be unsuccessful at reducing candy consumption?
Money or not, the diminishing marginal utility of actually eating the candy would be the same. The only difference is what the kid would do with his surplus of candy. Surely, he would desire to eat nearly the same amount of candy; he would merely try to collect more to sell after he fulfilled his own desires.
4. Do you think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy? In what way?
I believe that the child's present money would significantly impact his decision. Let's say the dentist was willing to give the kid $5 for his candy. If the kid already had $100 or gets a $10 allowance every week from his parents, the dentist's offer isn't too appealing. However, a kid with only $15 available to him would perceive $5 as a lot of money. It is all perspective.
Unintended consequence: similar to my answer for number 2, the kids may still eat the same amount of candy but simply be paid for their surplus, which does not increase the kid's health.
2. Why might a program, like the one above, be unsuccessful at reducing candy consumption?
Most children eat candy. As child, he or she does not know the full implications of receiving money and using it or saving it for something desirable. However, candy is desirable, and since the children already have it, they think only of the short term satisfaction in eating it.
3. How much money would you need to be paid to sell a pound of Halloween candy? How much candy would you sell if you had five pounds? What about fifty pounds?
I'd have to make as much profit as possible. I'd first ask for a ridiculously large sum of money, and lower it for the consumer's ability and willingness to pay. Maybe about $25 per pound. Thus, it seems like I gave them a good deal, when in fact, i have made a profit. I would sell all my candy if I had five or fifty pounds.
3. How much money would you need to be paid to sell a pound of Halloween candy? How much candy would you sell if you had five pounds? What about fifty pounds?
For me if I were a kid, the amount of money paid to me would depend on that type of candy in the bag. If there are less favorable candies such as Tootsie Rolls, peppermints, or butterscotch, the value of the pound of candy would be lower.
4. Do you think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy? In what way?
Yes I do believe the amount of money a child already has will influence his decision because, if he already has money and has candy also, they would prpbably think, "I already have money and candy so why should I give up my candy for more money. They may think this way because they are too young to realize the value of money.
The unintended consequences I see is that parents may try to make a little extra money off of their kids earnings. Another consequence, moreso a problem, is the fac tthat teenagers also go trick-or-treating and may use this system as a way to earn "free" money.
2. Why might a program, like the one above, be unsuccessful at reducing candy consumption?
Dentists trying to compromise with parents will be unsuccessful. Halloween is for kids to go out and get candy, it is then up to their parents how much they are allowed to eat. Dentists should not have the authority to change how children eat their candy, but then again it is up to the parent if they want to make money off their childrens' candy.
4. Do you think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy? In what way?
Desperate times call for desperate measures, therefore, a parent has the ability to take all of their child's candy and sell it to put good on the table. That's exaggerated, kind of, but richer families may not are to sell their child's candy as much. People with fewer privileges need more access to dentists and money period.
Question #2: The program above may have many flaws to it, one that stands out to me would be: if kids are offered an incentive such as money for candy, they will be compelled to go out and get more candy. Therefore, instead of just collecting the typical amount of candy they would every year, they would get that much and more, in order to potentially keep the usual amount and get money for the rest. Additionally, some kids may appreciate candy more than money, and feel no obligation to give up their candy for money.
Question #3: Personally, if I wanted to take the time out of my day to sell candy, I would need to at least be making a profit of $15. If I had 5lbs of candy or even 50lbs of candy, I would sell it all!! I don’t eat candy, I have no siblings to leave it for, and my parents don’t need the candy.
With incentives and politics there always some sort of underlying exploitation being involved. Therefore, I believe that it is highly likely that there could be un-intended consequences with actions such as this one.
Why might a program, like the one above, be unsuccessful at reducing candy consumption?
The example used - money for candy - does not necessarily offer true compensation for children. Sure, teenagers and preteens would be overjoyed to get money, but most trick-or-treaters are much younger. The buy back program, therefore, is more incentive for the parents than the kids. If the parents forced the kids to give up candy, the kid certainly wouldn't trick-or-treat anymore. And even if the kid gave up some of the candy, they'd certainly eat the rest. I know as a kid I never ate all my candy - just those I liked- so it wouldn't even reduce consumption much, either.
5. Right now, anyone choosing to sell candy can pick which treats they sell. How do you think participation in the program would change if the pound of candy was selected randomly from all the candy collected trick-or-treating? What if the most dentally damaging candies were priced higher?
Choosing the candy at random - risking the candy both parents and children want to keep - would likely decrease participation in the program. However, if the most dentally damaging candies were priced higher - some of which might include candies that the sellers would otherwise keep - there is a chance that participating with more popular candies would increase.
Unintended consequences: If word got out that children were selling their candy instead of eating it (in majority), chances are that Halloween would have fewer and fewer adults that hand out this candy. After all, giving food out is fine, but there is a mindset that if a person is using it for profit instead of personal enjoyment...well, let's say people wouldn't be too happy.
3. How much money would you need to be paid to sell a pound of Halloween candy? How much candy would you sell if you had five pounds? What about fifty pounds?
I was a simple child; I never really knew the value of a dollar. As a child I’d be happy to get $5 for every pound of candy I receive. But now that I’m older it would be somewhere around $10 for every pound.
2. Why might a program, like the one above, be unsuccessful at reducing candy consumption?
Some children just really want candy. It’s more than “the hunt” it’s also the wanting or candy. Halloween is the one night children can get more candy than they could ever buy for free. To some kids that is worth way more than money they could get for turning in their candy.
But some children can become accustom to getting money for their candy, which can make a fun night of Trick or Treating a competition. Or people could use this as an opportunity to earn money.
Do you think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy? In what way?
• Yes, the amount of money the child already has will influence whether or not he wants to sell his other candy. Children, for the most part, tend to spend their parents money on most things they want. So, they aren’t much of savers because they don’t have much to save for. Therefore, if a kid already had some money he wouldn’t find the need to get more and would rather just keep the candy.
Right now, anyone choosing to sell candy can pick which treats they sell. How do you think participation in the program would change if the pound of candy was selected randomly from all the candy collected trick-or-treating? What if the most dentally damaging candies were priced higher?
• The participation would be less because there is a chance that the children’s favorite candies will be chosen. There no longer is a guarantee that they will have the candy they like because they cannot choose the ones they want. If the most dentally damaging candies were priced higher more kids would want to sell those candies. And, because of that there would, in general, be less of a chance of damaging teeth because of Halloween candy.
Unintended consequences?
Yes, even though kids can gain money from giving their candy up, they might just get the money to buy better or more candy. Or, people could use their kids to make money off of them!
1. Why might a program, like the one above, be unsuccessful at reducing candy consumption?
The kind of kids that would be willing to sell thier candy for money are most likely the ones that have the least risk of dental problems and cavities. If they would rather have money than candy, they probably are not the ones the dentists are trying to target.
2. Do you think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy? In what way?
In most circumstances, I think not. Most children are not aware of the value in money or even the concept of monetary value. Therefore, without real understanding there may not be a real gap between the kids who have more than those who have less.
Some unintended consequences involve making the kids more mercenary than they should be at such young ages. Since I do not have children, I can't say for sure, but i think I would rather have them desire candy rather than money at that age.
2. Why might a program, like the one above, be unsuccessful at reducing candy consumption? The stuff that's the worst for you is the stuff you want the most. Plus all that stuff gets so much marketing and exposure, it's crazy. But mainly because it tastes good.
4. Do you think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy? In what way? Yes; the kid could get more money in order to buy a toy helicopter or video game that he really wants.
2. Why might a program, like the one above, be unsuccessful at reducing candy consumption?
Kids will be kids and they will try to get their hands on as much candy as they can. Kids would sell the candy they don't like and then consume their favorites.
3. How much money would you need to be paid to sell a pound of Halloween candy? How much candy would you sell if you had five pounds? What about fifty pounds?
Assuming that I collected the candy from trick or treating instead of buying it, I would sell at reasonable prices. It depends on the type of candy, but for example if I had a pound of Starburst and Skittles I would want to sell that for around five dollars. For five pounds I would charge around ten dollars and if I could find someone to but fifty pounds of candy I would charge them twenty five dollars.
Unintended consequence: People will abuse this system and it would take away the joy of trick or treating making that one night of having fun a day to make money.
Do you think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy? In what way?
Yes, the amount of money a child has can influence his or her decision to sell some candy. They will start feeling greedy and the need to earn more than what they already have.
Why might a program, like the one above, be unsuccessful at reducing candy consumption?
A program like the one above might be unsuccessful at reducing candy consumption because kids crave candy. They won’t be able to just stop craving candy. It also wouldn’t be easy to convince kids of trading candy with money.
Some unintended consequences might be that it can make them greedy at a young age.
Why might a program, like the one above, be unsuccessful at reducing candy consumption?
-Kids will just get more and more candy. And after a while they will get tired of the incentives or the dentists will run out of incentives. You can never be sure, even with this program, that kids will stop consuming. We can only hope, and hoping is just not as good as being sure.
Do you think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy? In what way?
-It wouldn't change the child's decision because if there is way for children to gain more, then they will definitely go for it, especially if the way is as easy as trick or treating.
An unintended consequence might be that the children could get overly exposed to money which in turn could bring out some unwanted habits from the child.
2. Why might a program, like the one above, be unsuccessful at reducing candy consumption?
Although offering monetary benefits for trading in candy, kids would just try to get more candy than usual and sell the extra candy. This way, not only would kids consume the same amount of candy, yet they would also receive money as well.
4. Do you think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy? In what way?
Yes I think this will completely change his/her decision. If a child already has money, they will value the money much less than they value the candy. However, if the child doesn't have any of his/her own money, then they could possibly value the money more than the candy.
Possible Consequence: One major consequence that will most likely arise is that children will no longer view Halloween as a fun event, yet a way to make money.
2. Why might a program, like the one above, be unsuccessful at reducing candy consumption?
The article states that dentists are "increasing the payoff of an otherwise less desirable choice." This is exactly how how a program could be unsuccessful. If the payoff is not made high enough, people will not make the less desirable choice.
4. Do you think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy? In what way?
Yes. If I were a child and I had plenty of money, I doubt they could pay enough for my candy to make it more worthwhile than consuming it. If I did not have much money, I would probably get a bunch of candy and then sell it, using some of the profits to buy better candy. I could see how money could easily influence a child into selling or consuming their candy.
3. How much money would you need to be paid to sell a pound of Halloween candy? How much candy would you sell if you had five pounds? What about fifty pounds?
It depends on the type of candy I've collected. If it is sold on a pound to pound basis disregarding the candy that makes up the pound, I might sell the candy for less than say if the pound consists of chocolate. I would be willing to accept 8-10$ per pound. If I had 5 pounds, I will sell 4 pounds. If I had 50lb, I will sell 49lbs.
4. Do you think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy? In what way?
Yes, because if the child already has a lot of money, the value of money may seem less to him/her than to other kids. The more money the child has, the more likely he/she is willing to sell/share his/her candy.
Unintended consequences: The kids will sell the candy for profit, and buy more candy with the money
2. Why might a program, like the one above, be unsuccessful at reducing candy consumption?
Since kids feel they have the need to get more candy whether as an incentive or snack, they will simply consume more of their favorite types due the fact the possibility of more candy increases.
4. Do you think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy? In what way?
The amount of money a child has will definitely influence their decision to sell candy, for if they feel they have a sufficient amount and care to eat the candy, they won't sell as much and vise versa.
2. Why might a program, like the one above, be unsuccessful at reducing candy consumption?
If a child knew about this program before hand and comprehended that he/she will receive money and candy if they collected in bulk. The child will end up collecting as much as they can and the worst part is, if they decide to not try to sell the candy they will be left with an even larger pile to consume.
4. Do you think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy? In what way?
Yes the amount of money the child themselves have will influence his decision, for if the child has a good amount of money, will look at the privilege of eating the candy as a greater treat than dollar bills.
4. Do you think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy? In what way?
The most significant part of this program is the fact that the amount of money that the children have varies and that changes if they sell their candy or not. If the child already has a lot of money they will be less likely to sell their candy for money because they already have some, whereas a child who has very little money will sell their candy in an instant to get their hands on some cash. It plays a very important role because for the program to work they will have to appeal to the children who already have a lot of money that they can spend.
2. Why might a program, like the one above, be unsuccessful at reducing candy consumption?
A program like this could be unsuccessful due to the fact that kids want to keep their candy. It’s a competition amongst the children to see who can accumulate the most candy after Halloween and that person gets the bragging rights for practically the entire year. Younger kids will want to keep the candy instead of getting money because they are children they don’t really need money to spend anything on because their parents will buy them what they ask for. There are flaws that will cause this program to fail and the main way is that younger kids will not want to trade candy for money, but as they mature it will become a much better deal.
Some unintended consequences that can come about form this program is that parents will give out less candy because they will see that the kids are making money out of it and not enjoying it which will cause less and less people to give out candy which will ruin all of the fun for the children who are not partaking in the program. It ruins Halloween for everyone because even though you may not eat all of the candy it is about the thrill of going door to door and keeping your treasure (candy).
2. Why might a program, like the one above, be unsuccessful at reducing candy consumption?
Not only will children learn to sell the extra candy in order to get more than the usual amount, the majority of children today are knowledgeable of the monetary value in money.
4. Do you think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy? In what way?
Yes, I do think that the amount of money the child has will influence his or her decision to sell. It they already have money, the consequence is they will begin to value the money less due to the fact that they desire candy instead.
Do you think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy? In what way?
Yes. i think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy.it really reflects on how much money will satisfy them. for example, if a kid already have a sufficient amount of money that he satisfies, he probably wont even bother selling the candy. in other hand, if a child doesn't have any his/her own money, they would not pass up the opportunity to sell candy to make some money of their own.
3. How much money would you need to be paid to sell a pound of Halloween candy? How much candy would you sell if you had five pounds? What about fifty pounds?
I'd have to make as much profit as possible. since selling stuff contains a lot of talking and persuading consumers, i would say about 10-15 dollars per pound and i would like to sell as much as i can.
Why might a program, like the one above, be unsuccessful at reducing candy consumption?
If a child is willing to sell their candy, their mind is probably thinking about buying better candy with the money they attain. So, instead of reducing candy consumption using this particular idea, it might actually be a cause to increase of candy consumption.
Do you think the amount of money a child already has will influence his or her decision to sell some candy? In what way?
If a child already owns a decent amount of money, from the child's point of view there is no need to sell the object they like to attain more of what they have. As halloween candies are free of cost, they would not go through the effort of selling the candy and attaining which they would once again use to buy candies. On the other hand, if a child comes from a financially challenged family, and the child is aware of the family's condition, the child might be willing to sell his/her candy to attain some money and save themselves from wasting money at the dentist.
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