Add a Legume to Your Cart

NCT07600606 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: RM-2025-1014PE00000003;CUP D93C22000890001
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 682
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of a healthy diet promotion intervention focused on increasing legume consumption. The intervention is delivered via mobile application in a sample drawn from the healthy adult population.

Conditions

Educational Videos; Persuasive Videos; Tailored Videos

Keywords

legumes; well-being; food education; healthy diet; communication strategies

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Portions of purchased legumes - task 1 - simulation on online grocery shopping

  In the first task, specifically designed for the present study, participants are asked to complete a simulated online grocery shopping for the following week. The task is structured to closely resemble a real shopping experience: each item can be added to the virtual cart in a potentially unlimited number of units, with higher values indicating larger quantities purchased and a value of zero indicating that the item was not selected. The primary outcome will consist of the total number of legume-based items selected, subsequently converted into servings. This conversion process will be carried out by the nutrition research team.

  T1 - day 3. After compiling the baseline assessment (T0) at day 1, participants received the link to complete the second part of the survey at day 3, which was to be completed by the end of the day.

• Explicit attitudes about legumes

  Participants were asked to express their opinions about legumes using six different bipolar scales, introduced with the following instruction: "Now think about legumes (e.g., chickpeas, peas, beans, lentils, broad beans). Which adjectives do you consider most appropriate to describe them? Please respond to each pair of adjectives without overthinking your answer." The bipolar adjective pairs were as follows: negative-positive; bland-tasty; isolating-convivial; unsatisfying-satiating; difficult-easy; loser-winner. Responses were recorded on 7-point scales ranging from 1 (indicating the negative pole of each adjective pair) to 7 (indicating the positive pole of each adjective pair).

  T1 - day 3. After compiling the baseline assessment (T0) at day 1, participants received the link to complete the second part of the survey at day 3, which was to be completed by day 3.

• Swipe Approach-Avoidance Task (SwipeAAT)

  The Swipe Approach-Avoidance Task (SwipeAAT) is a smartphone-based version of the Approach-Avoidance Task, in which participants interact with visual stimuli according to specific instructions. Stimuli must either be "approached" (by swiping upward) or "avoided" (by swiping downward) depending on the instructions provided. Reaction times recorded during task performance are analyzed to infer spontaneous behavioral tendencies of approach or avoidance toward the presented stimuli. To assess spontaneous approach and avoidance tendencies toward legumes and meat, two scores were computed for each participant: Legume SwipeAAT score, calculated as the difference between the mean of all valid latencies (see Data Exclusion) for the "Avoid legumes" trials and the "Approach legumes" trials. Meat SwipeAAT score, calculated as the difference between the mean of all valid latencies (see Data Exclusion) for the "Avoid meat" trials and the "Approach meat" trials.

  T1 - day 3. After compiling the baseline assessment (T0) at day 1, participants received the link to complete the second part of the survey at day 3, which was to be completed by day 3.

• Intention to increase legumes portions in the future - single ad hoc item

  Participants were asked to report their future intention to increase their weekly consumption of legumes using a single-item measure ("Do you intend to increase your consumption of legumes in the near future?"). Responses were provided on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 ("absolutely not") to 5 ("absolutely yes").

  T1 - day 3. After compiling the baseline assessment (T0) at day 1, participants received the link to complete the second part of the survey at day 3, which was to be completed by day 3.

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Portions of other purchased items - task 1 - simulation on online grocery shopping

  T1 - day 3. After compiling the baseline assessment (T0) at day 1, participants received the link to complete the second part of the survey at day 3, which was to be completed by day 3.

Study Arms (3)

Educational

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants watch a video with an educational content and communicative style about the benefits of eating legumes

Other: Educational

Persuasive

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants watch a video with an educational content and a persuasive communicative style about the benefits of eating legumes

Other: Persuasive

Tailored

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants watch a video with a persuasive communicative style and tailored content about the benefits of eating legumes

Other: Tailored

Interventions

Educational OTHER

Participants watch an educational video about the benefits of eating legumes. Then, they perform the grocery shopping simulation and the automatic task for approach/avoidance assessment

Educational

Persuasive OTHER

Participants watch a persuasive video with educational content about the benefits of eating legumes. Then, they perform the grocery shopping simulation

Persuasive

Tailored OTHER

Participants watch a persuasive video with a tailored content about the benefits of eating legumes. Then, they perform the grocery shopping simulation

Tailored

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• be university students (enrolled in a bachelor's degree, master's degree/specialized degree/single-cycle degree program, or postgraduate education);
• own a smartphone.

You may not qualify if:

• consume an adequate amount of legumes (\> 3 servings);
• suffer from one or more conditions that could represent a contraindication to the consumption of certain specific categories of legumes, such as favism, allergies, irritable bowel syndrome, short bowel syndrome and/or leaky gut, forms of intestinal dysbiosis, or other intestinal disorders.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Milano Bicocca: lead

Study Sites (1)

Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo 1

Milan, 20126, Italy

Location

Related Publications (2)

• Igartua JJ, Rodriguez-Contreras L. Narrative Voice Matters! Improving Smoking Prevention with Testimonial Messages through Identification and Cognitive Processes. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Oct 5;17(19):7281. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17197281.

  PMID: 33028030 BACKGROUND

• Cheng G, Li W, He M, Liao L. Exploring consumer responses to official endorsement: roles of credibility and attractiveness attributes in live streaming. Front Psychol. 2024 May 20;15:1371343. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1371343. eCollection 2024.

  PMID: 38831950 BACKGROUND

Study Officials

• Patrizia Steca

  University of Milan-Bicocca

  STUDY DIRECTOR

• Maria Elide Vanutelli

  University of Milan-Bicocca

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, INVESTIGATOR
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 6, 2026
• First Posted: May 20, 2026
• Study Start: November 17, 2025
• Primary Completion: March 13, 2026
• Study Completion: March 13, 2026
• Last Updated: May 20, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

IT (1)