The Fun Factor

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective was to determine if adding a fun consequence to returning carts to the cart corral would increase the number of carts returned by store customers. Methods/Materials I first counted the number of carts returned to the cart corral without any fun factor stimulus as the control. Then, to create a fun consequence for returning carts to the cart corral, I sat in a large box at the back of the cart corral and played a recording while lifting a paper to reveal a sign that said, "Now wasn't returning the cart fun? Thanks!" every time a customer returned a cart to the cart corral. I then removed the box and again counted the number of carts returned by customers without any fun factor stimulus. Results Out of all the observation periods, the percentage of carts returned with the fun factor stimulus was 59%, compared to only 46% of carts returned without any fun factor stimulus, which proved that my hypothesis was correct. Conclusions/Discussion My conclusion for this experiment is that if a "fun factor" is added to a regular every day thing then the amount of people doing it can increase significantly. This concept could be used to really help the environment; for example, by making picking up trash fun, recycling fun, or maybe even riding a bicycle to work fun. Also, returning carts to the cart corral is important. Carts not returned to the corral can cause serious damage to cars, or result in damages to the carts themselves, making them rusty and unhealthy for people. From my experiment I learned that making things fun really can significantly change things.

Competition history

• CSEF 2010 Behavioral & Social Sciences · Entry J0302

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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