In general, incentives are anything that persuade a person to alter their behaviour. It is emphasised that incentives matter by the basic law of economists and the laws of behaviour, which state that higher incentives amount to greater levels of effort and therefore, higher levels of performance.
Bibliography
“Incentive.” 2022. Wikipedia, November. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Incentive&oldid=1122117735.