Title: Design of financial incentive programmes for smoking cessation: A discrete choice experiment Authors: Rachel J. Breen, Matthew A. Palmer, Mai Frandsen, Stuart G. Ferguson Affiliation: College of Health & Medicine, University of Tasmanian, Australia Presenting Author: Rachel Breen. Email: Rachel.Breen@utas.edu.au<mailto:Rachel.Breen@utas.edu.au> ORCID ID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2727-5763 Please see the following for an interactive figure detailing the results of this project: https://tinyurl.com/dce-financial-incentives ABSTRACT Background: Negative health consequences of smoking are well known. Financial incentive programmes promote smoking cessation. However, the incentive amount which should be provided - and how this may interact with other programme characteristics - is unknown. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of the design of incentive programmes for smoking cessation on current smokers' perceptions of programmes and willingness to enrol. Method: An online discrete choice experiment was conducted with adult current smokers residing in the United Kingdom (N = 430). Hypothetical incentive programmes were described using five attributes (incentive amount, incentive type, frequency of sessions, reward schedule, programme location). Participants responded to a series of choice sets comprised of two hypothetical programmes. For each set, participants selected their preferred programme, then indicated whether they would enrol in their preferred programme. The effect of participant income on preferences was additionally considered through mixed logit models. Findings: Participants preferred higher amounts over lower amounts, cash over vouchers, healthcare settings over workplaces, and consistent amounts over an escalating schedule. One session per week was the most preferred session frequency. Willingness to enrol increased quadratically with the incentive amount, although this increase slowed for higher amounts. Although middle- and high-income smokers preferred slightly higher amounts (cf. low-income participants), hypothetical enrolment did not differ by income. Discussion: The characteristics of incentive programmes influence smokers' willingness to enrol. Higher amounts may encourage greater enrolment rates, but there will likely be a ceiling point beyond which increasing the incentive amount does not meaningfully increase enrolments.