How peer pressure built a $5 billion fitness revolution

In Singapore, a group of runners charge 50p per kilometre to run on strangers' Strava accounts. That's how far people will go to look fit online. This episode explains the psychology behind why being watched changes everything. --- Owain’s book: Owain’s company CogCo: Unlock the Nudge Vaults: ⁠ Join 11,626 readers of my newsletter: ⁠ ⁠ Connect on LinkedIn: ⁠ --- Today’s sources: Gerber, A. S., Green, D. P., & Larimer, C. W. (2008). Social pressure and voter turnout: Evidence from a large-scale field experiment. American Political Science Review, 102(1), 33–48. Sallis, A., Harper, H., & Sanders, M. (2018). Effect of persuasive messages on National Health Service organ donor registrations: A pragmatic quasi-randomised controlled trial with one million UK road taxpayers. Trials, 19, 513. Service, O., & Gallagher, R. (2017). Think small: The surprisingly simple ways to reach big goals. Michael O'Mara Books.Triplett, N. (1898). The dynamogenic factors in pacemaking and competition. American Journal of Psychology, 9, 507–533.

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How peer pressure built a $5 billion fitness revolution is an episode from Nudge - Marketing Science Podcast by Phill Agnew.

This episode is 21:55 long.

This episode was published on May 18, 2026.

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