Targeted Food Incentives to Improve Diet Quality and Health Among Adults

NCT03748056 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: 1240194-3AWD05956 , Project 0006418
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 224
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

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.

Conditions

Diet Modification; Diet Habit

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Likelihood of purchasing targeted products

  Within produce, whole grain cereals \& breads, lean meats, low-fat dairy, and beverages, will look at the proportion of expenditures (i.e. percent of dollars) in those categories before and after the intervention between treatment and control group.

  3- 6- and 9-month changes within and between the intervention and control groups

• Grocery Purchase Quality Index (GPQI) 2016

  The GPQI is a validated measure for scoring the quality of household grocery purchases by comparing the percent spent within different food categories with recommended spending. https://utah.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/the-grocery-purchase-quality-index-2016-an-innovative-approach-to

  3, 6- and 9-month changes in the GPQI-16 and its components within and between the intervention and control groups

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Healthy Eating Index (HEI) -2010 for the primary shopper

  3, 6- and 9-month changes in the HEI-10 and its components within and between the intervention and control groups

• Percent expenditures within targeted categories

  3, 6- and 9-month changes in percent spending in targeted categories within and between the intervention and control groups

• Self-reported height and weight used to compute body mass index (BMI)

  3, 6- and 9-month changes in BMI

Other Outcomes (5)

• Self-reported food neophobia as an effect modifier on the primary and secondary outcomes

  Baseline and 9-months

• Self-reported food literacy as an effect modifier on the primary and secondary outcomes

  Baseline

• Coupon proneness as an effect modifier on the primary and secondary outcomes

  Baseline and 9-months

Study Arms (2)

Targeted incentives arm

EXPERIMENTAL

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

Behavioral: Targeted incentives; Behavioral: Nominal loyalty card discount and nutrition education

Usual care arm

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

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.

Behavioral: Nominal loyalty card discount and nutrition education

Interventions

Targeted incentives 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

Targeted incentives arm

Nominal loyalty card discount and nutrition education BEHAVIORAL

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

Targeted incentives arm; Usual care arm

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• 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

You may not qualify if:

• 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

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Rhode Island: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Rhode Island

Kingston, Rhode Island, 02881, United States

Location

Related Publications (8)

• 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.

  PMID: 28268200 BACKGROUND

• 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.

  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.

  PMID: 28912107 BACKGROUND

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

  BACKGROUND

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

  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.

  PMID: 10432912 BACKGROUND

• 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.

  PMID: 36040345 DERIVED

• 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.

  PMID: 33566105 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Feeding Behavior

Interventions

Nutrition Assessment

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior, Animal; Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Data Collection; Epidemiologic Methods; Investigative Techniques; Health Care Evaluation Mechanisms; Quality of Health Care; Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation; Epidemiologic Measurements; Public Health; Environment and Public Health

Study Officials

• Maya Vadiveloo

  University of Rhode Island

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 18, 2018
• First Posted: November 20, 2018
• Study Start: September 10, 2018
• Primary Completion: May 1, 2019
• Study Completion: May 1, 2019
• Last Updated: October 1, 2021

Record last verified: 2021-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)