{"id":34213,"date":"2021-05-06T22:47:51","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T02:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=34213"},"modified":"2021-05-08T22:50:32","modified_gmt":"2021-05-09T02:50:32","slug":"incentive-and-reward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/incentive-and-reward\/","title":{"rendered":"Incentive and Reward: What’s the Difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Are incentives and rewards the same thing? What is the key difference between the two concepts? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incentives and rewards are often used interchangeably, however, they are not the same thing. Incentives are ways to encourage a particular behavior with benefits that can appear in the future. In contrast, a reward needs to occur either while the behavior is happening or very shortly afterward. The difference is timing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading for a more thorough analysis on the difference between incentive<\/a> and reward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Incentives and Rewards<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Like \u201cgoal,\u201d the word \u201creward\u201d is conceptually fuzzy, and its technical meaning is frequently lost in translation between academic research and self-help books. Rewards and incentives<\/a> are often used interchangeably but they do not mean the same thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many people, \u201cIf I go to the gym now, I\u2019ll watch a movie tonight\u201d is a reward. But in the technical sense, this isn\u2019t the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It helps to distinguish between \u201cincentives\u201d and \u201crewards.\u201d<\/strong> The difference is timing.<\/em><\/strong> <\/strong>Incentives are ways to encourage a particular behavior. The benefit can appear well into the future. Examples of incentives are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n