Targeted Food Incentives to Improve Diet Quality and Health Among Adults

NCT ID: NCT03748056

Last Updated: 2021-10-01

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 224 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2018-09-10
• Study Completion Date: 2019-05-01

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to test whether individual-level targeted price incentives for healthier foods can improve the diet quality of grocery purchases made by adults in comparison to a "one size fits all" approach. To test this, the investigators plan to implement a 8-month randomized controlled cross-over trial. The intervention group will receive a small discount for using their loyalty card and weekly coupons for healthier foods (e.g. fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and seafood, low-fat dairy) that are selected based on the individual's past purchase history, dietary preferences, their baseline diet quality, and their estimated likelihood of using the coupon. Individualized coupons will be automatically sent to customers' loyalty cards each week, and separate emails with appropriate nutrition education and information about the coupons will be sent to participants weekly. The control group will receive a small discount for using their loyalty cards during the first phase of the study (3-months), occasional untargeted coupons, and weekly emails with untargeted nutrition education. Following phase1, there will be a 2-month washout period, and then the intervention and control groups will cross over for the remaining 3-months of the study. The investigators will collect purchase data from all participants as well as food frequency questionnaires and other self-reported behavioral and health questions at baseline, after phase 1 completion, and after phase 2 completion. The investigators hypothesize that participants in the intervention group will meaningfully improve the overall quality of their food purchases (measured using the Grocery Purchase Quality Index-2016) as well as their overall diet quality (measured using the Healthy Eating Index 2010.

Detailed Description

A detailed description of Eligibility and outcome measures is entered elsewhere

Conditions

Diet Modification; Diet Habit

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Targeted incentives arm

The interventions received by the experimental group include: 1) weekly emails with targeted coupons for healthier products, 2) weekly emails with targeted nutrition education, and 3) and a nominal discount on grocery purchases for using their loyalty card

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Targeted incentives

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants receiving individually-targeted incentives will receive weekly coupons for healthier foods that are informed by their purchase history, responses to behavioral and health questions, food preferences, and need for improvement in different categories

Nominal loyalty card discount and nutrition education

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

All participants will receive a nominal discount on all groceries for using their loyalty card and nutrition education through weekly emails.

Usual care arm

The interventions included under "usual care" include 1) untargeted nutrition education, 2) occasional untargeted coupons for healthier products, and 3) a nominal discount on their grocery purchases for using their loyalty card. These interventions are only received by participants randomized to the usual care arm (rather than the entire population of shoppers), and will allow for testing whether targeting discounts and nutrition education improves the diet quality of purchases in comparison to untargeted approaches.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Nominal loyalty card discount and nutrition education

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

All participants will receive a nominal discount on all groceries for using their loyalty card and nutrition education through weekly emails.

Interventions

Targeted incentives

Participants receiving individually-targeted incentives will receive weekly coupons for healthier foods that are informed by their purchase history, responses to behavioral and health questions, food preferences, and need for improvement in different categories

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Nominal loyalty card discount and nutrition education

All participants will receive a nominal discount on all groceries for using their loyalty card and nutrition education through weekly emails.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• 18 years or older
• Speaks English
• Non-store employee
• Primary shopper in the household
• Purchases at least half of weekly groceries at supermarket
• Not pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant before April 2019

Exclusion Criteria

• Younger than 18 years of age
• Does not speak English
• Employee at supermarket
• Pregnant or planning to become pregnant before April 2019
• Not primary shopper for household
• Purchases less than half of weekly groceries at supermarket

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

University of Rhode Island

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Maya Vadiveloo

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Rhode Island

Locations

University of Rhode Island

Kingston, Rhode Island, United States

Countries

United States

References

Damsbo-Svendsen M, Frost MB, Olsen A. A review of instruments developed to measure food neophobia. Appetite. 2017 Jun 1;113:358-367. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2017.02.032. Epub 2017 Mar 6.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 28268200 (View on PubMed)

VAN TRIJP HCM, STEENKAMP J-BEM. Consumers' variety seeking tendency with respect to foods: Measurement and managerial implications. Eur Rev Agric Econ. 1992;19(2):181-195. doi:10.1093/erae/19.2.181.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

Grea Krause C, Beer-Borst S, Sommerhalder K, Hayoz S, Abel T. A short food literacy questionnaire (SFLQ) for adults: Findings from a Swiss validation study. Appetite. 2018 Jan 1;120:275-280. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2017.08.039. Epub 2017 Sep 11.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 28912107 (View on PubMed)

Lichtenstein, Ridgway, and Netemeyer. (1993) Price perception Scales. Handbook of Marketing Scales.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

University of Minnesota. Project EAT - Epidemiology & Community Health Research. http://www.sphresearch.umn.edu/epi/project-eat/#EAT3. Accessed June 14, 2018.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

Blumberg SJ, Bialostosky K, Hamilton WL, Briefel RR. The effectiveness of a short form of the Household Food Security Scale. Am J Public Health. 1999 Aug;89(8):1231-4. doi: 10.2105/ajph.89.8.1231.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 10432912 (View on PubMed)

Vadiveloo MK, Parker HW, Thorndike AN. Participant Characteristics Associated with High Responsiveness to Personalized Healthy Food Incentives: a Secondary Analysis of the Randomized Controlled Crossover Smart Cart Study. J Nutr. 2023 Jan 14;152(12):2913-2921. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxac197.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 36040345 (View on PubMed)

Vadiveloo M, Guan X, Parker HW, Perraud E, Buchanan A, Atlas S, Thorndike AN. Effect of Personalized Incentives on Dietary Quality of Groceries Purchased: A Randomized Crossover Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2021 Feb 1;4(2):e2030921. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.30921.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 33566105 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

AWD05956 , Project 0006418

Identifier Type: OTHER_GRANT

Identifier Source: secondary_id

1240194-3

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id