Healthy In-Store Marketing Study

NCT02499211 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: 820635
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 33
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Using a cluster randomized controlled design, this study will evaluate effects of in-store healthy food marketing strategies on sales and purchase of specific healthier items in six product categories (milk, frozen entrees, beverage checkout coolers, salty snacks, bread and cheese); and examine the effects of changes in in-store food marketing environments on sales of healthier foods. If these strategies are found to be effective, they could be used widely to encourage healthy retail sales, complement food access initiatives, and reduce health disparities in obesity and other diseases. Supermarkets will be the unit of randomization, intervention, and analysis.

Conditions

Obesity

Keywords

obesity; health disparities; healthy food marketing; food environments; marketing environments; food access; food purchase decision making

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Weekly sales data by units sold

  Store IT managers will provide weekly sales data for the targeted products. The data will include units sold of all targeted products (higher calorie versions and lower-calorie alternatives).

  up to 36 months

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Marketing environment in the grocery stores using GMEA

  Baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, 15 months, 18 months, 21 months, 24 months

Study Arms (2)

Intervention stores

EXPERIMENTAL

Supermarkets will be the unit of randomization, intervention, and analysis. During randomization, stores are paired by size and percent sales of Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding. The intervention will last for 2 years, and will consist of in-store marketing of healthier (lower calorie) products through placement and promotion strategies in 6 food and beverage categories: milk; frozen meals; beverages in checkout coolers; bread; salty snacks; and cheese.

Other: Intervention stores

Non-intervention stores

NO INTERVENTION

No intervention administered. Supermarkets will be the unit of randomization, intervention, and analysis. During randomization, stores are paired by size and percent sales of WIC and SNAP funding. The non-intervention stores will not receive an intervention.

Interventions

Intervention stores OTHER

In-store marketing strategies will focus on placement and promotion of healthier items (lower calorie options) in the milk, frozen food, beverage checkout cooler, bread, salty snacks, and cheese sections of the store. Intervention efforts in the dairy section promote lower calorie milk (skim, 1%, and 2%), while diminishing the presence of whole milk. The visual order of the milk displays will be changed, and the number of facings, or the fronts of packages the consumer can see, of whole milk will be decreased by 30% while increasing the facings of the lower calorie milk. In the other product categories, target products will be moved to eye level and the number of facings will be increased. Call-out signs will be placed by the target products that list the name and price of the product. No health information or claims will be included. Signage will be rotated monthly to increase the chances that customers will notice them.

Intervention stores

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• years of age or older
• Do most of your food shopping at the store where they are recruited
• Speak English
• Be the main household shopper

You may not qualify if:

• Eligible stores will be at least 35,000 square feet in size, and be located in urban or suburban communities with at least 50% of households below the state median income.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Pennsylvania: lead
• University of Delaware: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Foster GD, Karpyn A, Wojtanowski AC, Davis E, Weiss S, Brensinger C, Tierney A, Guo W, Brown J, Spross C, Leuchten D, Burns PJ, Glanz K. Placement and promotion strategies to increase sales of healthier products in supermarkets in low-income, ethnically diverse neighborhoods: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2014 Jun;99(6):1359-68. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.113.075572. Epub 2014 Apr 2.

  PMID: 24695894 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Obesity

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Overweight; Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Body Weight; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Karen Glanz, PhD, MPH

  University of Pennsylvania

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: George A Weiss University Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 30, 2015
• First Posted: July 16, 2015
• Study Start: September 19, 2014
• Primary Completion: May 1, 2019
• Study Completion: December 1, 2019
• Last Updated: March 9, 2021

Record last verified: 2021-03

Locations

US (1)