Virtual Reality Effects on Food Intake Game to Decrease Food Intake

NCT05169996 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2018-PC-9033
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 202
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Aims:

• The first aim was to replicate the pre-exposure effect. This was done by assessing the effect of exposing participants to a puzzle game with real foods compared to real nonfoods on food intake.
• The second aim was to investigate the potential of VR for eliciting the pre-exposure effect. This was done by comparing the effect of a VR puzzle game with foods to a VR puzzle game with nonfoods on food intake.
• The third aim was to assess the effect of branding in VR on brand responses and the role of emotional responses herein. This was done by comparing a branded virtual puzzle game with foods with a (non-branded) virtual puzzle game with foods. Study design: a randomized 2 (game: real vs virtual) x 2 (product: food vs non-food) between-subjects design lab experiment, the effectiveness of pre-exposure to food in a VR game is tested. A fifth condition was added ("VR x branded food") in order to examine brand effects.

Conditions

Food Intake

Keywords

virtual reality; pre-exposure; food cravings

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Food intake

  Food intake (chocolates) in grams was measured by weighting the bowls of the taste test

  During the lab session

• Brand attitude

  Brand attitude was measured using a six-item 7-point semantic differential scale ranging from 1 (i.e., 'bad', 'unappealing', 'unpleasant', 'unattractive', 'boring', 'dislike') to 7 ('good', 'appealing', 'pleasant', 'attractive', 'exciting', 'like'), with the item "Select the answers that best reflect your opinion of the chocolate brand Milka"

  During the lab session

• Purchase intention

  Purchase intention was measured on a single-item 7-point scale ranging from 1 ('totally disagree') to 7 ('totally agree') by asking the participants to indicate how much they agreed with the statement "I am planning on buying Milka chocolate within the next seven days."

  During the lab session

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Virtual product appeal

  During the lab session

• Craving for virtual chocolate

  During the lab session

• Emotional response

  During the lab session

• Perceived entertainment value

  During the lab session

• Game difficulty

  During the lab session

Study Arms (5)

Real Food

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants are exposed to a tangram game with puzzle pieces from chocolate.

Other: Real Food

Real Nonfood

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants are exposed to a tangram game with puzzle pieces from wood.

Other: Real Nonfood

Virtual reality Food

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants are exposed to a virtual reality experience with a tangram game with puzzle pieces from (virtual) chocolate.

Other: Virtual reality Food

Virtual reality Nonfood

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants are exposed to a virtual reality experience with a tangram game with puzzle pieces from (virtual) wood.

Other: Virtual reality Nonfood

Virtual reality Food Branded

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants are exposed to a virtual reality experience with a tangram game with puzzle pieces from (virtual) chocolate. In the background of the puzzle, a brand is shown.

Other: Virtual reality Food Branded

Interventions

Real Food OTHER

The game was played while sitting behind a table in the lab. The task in the game was to finish a tangram puzzle. In the Real Food condition, the tangram pieces were tempting food products (i.e., pieces of chocolate). Players had to physically move the chocolate pieces with their hands and puzzle them together.

Real Food

Real Nonfood OTHER

The game was played while sitting behind a table in the lab. The task in the game was to finish a tangram puzzle. In the Real Nonfood condition, the tangram pieces were plain pieces (i.e., pieces of wood). Players had to physically move the wooden pieces with their hands and puzzle them together.

Real Nonfood

Virtual reality Food OTHER

The game was played by wearing a VR head-mounted display (HMD VR: HTC Vive) and people could interact in the virtual environment with the hand-held controllers. The task in the game was to finish a tangram puzzle. In the Virtual Reality Food condition, the tangram pieces were tempting food products (i.e., pieces of virtual chocolate). Players had to physically move the virtual chocolate pieces with the grab button on the controller and puzzle them together.

Virtual reality Food

Virtual reality Nonfood OTHER

The game was played by wearing a VR head-mounted display (HMD VR: HTC Vive) and people could interact in the virtual environment with the hand-held controllers. The task in the game was to finish a tangram puzzle. In the Virtual Reality Nonfood condition, the tangram pieces were plain pieces (i.e., pieces of virtual wood). Players had to physically move the virtual wood pieces with the grab button on the controller and puzzle them together.

Virtual reality Nonfood

Virtual reality Food Branded OTHER

The game was played by wearing a VR head-mounted display (HMD VR: HTC Vive) and people could interact in the virtual environment with the hand-held controllers. The task in the game was to finish a tangram puzzle. In the Virtual Reality Food condition, the tangram pieces were tempting food products (i.e., pieces of virtual chocolate). Players had to physically move the virtual chocolate pieces with the grab button on the controller and puzzle them together. In the background of the puzzle, a chocolate brand ('Milka') is shown

Virtual reality Food Branded

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 30 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• None (except for age 18-30)

You may not qualify if:

• Peanut allergy (self-reported)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Tilburg University: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Amsterdam - ComLab

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Liu Y, Stamos A, Dewitte S, van Berlo ZMC, van der Laan LN. Development and Evaluation of a Virtual Reality Puzzle Game to Decrease Food Intake: Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Serious Games. 2022 Feb 3;10(1):e31747. doi: 10.2196/31747.

  PMID: 35113028 DERIVED

Study Officials

• Laura Nynke Laura Nynke, Dr. Ir.

  Tilburg University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Masking Details: Participants were not informed about in which arm of the study they were allocated.
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate professor

Model Details: In a 2 (game: real vs virtual) x 2 (product: food vs non-food) between-subjects design lab experiment, the effectiveness of pre-exposure to food in a VR game is tested. A fifth condition was added ("VR x branded food") in order to examine brand effects.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 26, 2021
• First Posted: December 27, 2021
• Study Start: May 9, 2018
• Primary Completion: September 26, 2018
• Study Completion: September 26, 2018
• Last Updated: December 27, 2021

Record last verified: 2021-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

NL (1)