A study has found that smokers with about $150 of their own money on the line were more likely to quit smoking than the people who did not have to bet their cash to get rewards. The study conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania has been released on Wednesday.

According to Dr. Scott Halpern of the University of Pennsylvania, lead author of the study, the researchers found bit of a stick was much better than pure carrot. As per the study, some people were even ready to bet on themselves.

Dr. Kevin Volpp, senior author of the study, said, “As employers try to hold down health care costs, growing numbers of them have been using financial incentives to encourage workers to quit smoking or get healthier in other ways. But there's been relatively little research on what works best.”

To conduct the study, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania worked with CVS Health. According to reports, approximately 2,500 smokers took part in the study, including CVS employees, their friends and relatives. CVS Health is among the largest United States drugstore operator.

According to a previous research, money is persuasive. Dr. Kevin Volpp and other researchers tried to find out what difference it made if a person makes a decision to stand not only to win money for quitting, but also to lose money. Approximately 1,000 smokers were offered the opportunity to win about $800. To win the money, they had to quit smoking for six months. About 90% signed up for the participation.

Another 1,000 had to put about $150 down as a deposit. It they succeeds in quitting smoking for six months, they would get their $150 back plus $650. Just 14% agreed to the offer. The researchers found that smokers who put their own money were a committed bunch. About 50% of them succeeded in living without a cigarette for six months.