A major example of a time that someone I am close to was motivated by incentives was when my roommate chose to run for vice president of our fraternity. I wanted him to step into the role, but he had a lot of reservations about the time commitment. His grandparents were helping him cover his tuition and room and board expenses and he felt that he really needed to help them out financially. He was planning on getting a job to help cover the costs, but taking on the role of vice president would limit the time he had to take on more work. As I was discussing his options with him, we landed on a major point for why the position might be worth it. The vice president gets a 50% discount on their board bills which includes room and board, bills, and a meal plan. This 50% discount amounted to roughly $5,250 over the course of the year. While a part time job would more than likely have earned him more over this time, $5,250 is nothing to scoff at, and the financial compensation pushed him to accept the position. This situation was interesting because he wanted to take on the role for a variety of reasons, but money is an extremely strong motivator and in many ways, it was holding him up. The financial compensation was able to get him over the hump and allowed him the freedom to accept the position that he wanted to take on.
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