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Definition of incentive : 1. Inciting; encouraging or moving; rousing to action; stimulative.
2. Serving to kindle or set on fire.
3. That which moves or influences the mind, or operates on the passions; that which incites, or has a tendency to incite, to determination or action; that which prompts to good or ill; motive; spur; as, the love of money, and the desire of promotion, are two powerful incentives to action.

Synonyms:

push, encouragement, determinant, exhortation, catalyst, purpose, allurement, goad, excuse, inspiration, reason, stimulator, urge, persuasion, fillip, influence, spur, whip, motive, stimulant, cause, inducing, rationale, reason why, ground, spring, bait, motivator, come-on

impulse, motivation, drive, stimulus, instigation, impetus, energy, provocation, incitement, prod

atonement, consideration, compensation, payment, award, allowance, gratuity, wages, plum, inducement, remuneration, tribute, carrot, honorarium, bonus, enticement, sweetener, lure, sweepstakes, bounty, stimulation, allotment, prize, stipend, tip, wage, treat, amends, reward, temptation, gift, grant

discharge, deposit, payroll, fee, refund, reckoning, salary, reimbursement, disbursement, expenditure, repayment, settlement, bankroll, installment, retribution

Usage examples:

• So rich was already this inheritance when our colonies were settled, that there was little need or incentive for the early Americans to strike out into new literary paths, and create an original literature. - "The Nation in a Nutshell", George Makepeace Towle.
• One has to live up to certain things, and Graylees was an incentive. - "Set in Silver", Charles Norris Williamson and Alice Muriel Williamson.
• Moses never had but one appeal to make for obedience, one incentive to offer to obey. - "The Emancipation of Massachusetts", Brooks Adams.