Front-of-package Label Effects in Latine and Limited English Proficiency Populations

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Diet, Healthy
• Interventions: Behavioral: Interpretive text-only label; Behavioral: Guideline Daily Amounts label; Behavioral: Interpretive magnifying glass icon label; Behavioral: Separated interpretive magnifying glass icon label

• Registration Number: NCT06293963
• Lead Sponsor: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Brief Summary

The goal of this experiment is to examine the effects of 4 types of front-of-package food labels among a sample of Latino adults. The main questions this experiment aims to answer are:

What front-of-package label design is most effective in helping Latino and low English proficiency consumers identify healthier and less healthy food products?

What front-of-package label design is most effective in helping Latino and low English proficiency consumers choose healthier food products?

Additionally, this experiment also aims to answer the following question:

Do the benefits of front-of-package label designs differ by English proficiency and parental status?

Participants will be randomly assigned to 1 of 4 types of front-of-package label designs and view their assigned label design on 3 sets of products. Each set will display 3 similar products, each high in either 1, 2, or 3 nutrients of concern. For each set, participants will select the product that they believe to be the healthiest, least healthy, and the product that they would most want to consume. Researchers will compare results across label designs.

Detailed Description

This study aims to determine which front-of-package label design is most effective at helping Latino consumers identify and choose healthier products, as well as explore whether the benefits of different front-of-package label designs differ by English proficiency. A Latino-focused panel company will recruit 4,000 US Latino adults of parental age (18-55 years), approximately 50% of whom will have limited English proficiency.

In a between-subjects experiment, researchers will randomize participants to 1 of 4 types of front-of-package label designs: a numerical label, an interpretive text-only label, an interpretive label with a magnifying glass icon, or separated interpretive labels with a magnifying glass icon. Participants will view their assigned label design on 3 similar products (each product high in either 1, 2, or 3 nutrients of concern) and complete selection tasks. These tasks will be repeated 3 times, each time with a different type of product (i.e., frozen meals, frozen pizzas, and frozen desserts), with the products displayed in random order.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2024-02-27
• Study First Submitted QC: 2024-02-27
• Study First Posted: 2024-03-05
• Study Start: 2024-08-09
• Primary Completion: 2024-09-11
• Study Completion: 2024-09-11
• Status Verified: 2024-10
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-12-02
• Last Update Posted: 2024-12-03

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 3306

Inclusion Criteria

• Identifying as Latino or Hispanic
• Ages 18-55 years old
• Residing in US

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Exclusion Criteria

• Not identifying as Latino or Hispanic
• Less than 18 or greater than 55 years old
• Not residing in the United States

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Interpretive text-only label	Interpretive text-only label	-
Numerical label	Guideline Daily Amounts label	-
Interpretive magnifying glass icon label	Interpretive magnifying glass icon label	-
Separated interpretive magnifying glass icon label	Separated interpretive magnifying glass icon label	-

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Correct identification of healthiest product	During exposure to intervention (i.e., study stimuli), assessed during one-time online 10-minute survey.	Correct identification of healthiest product will be measured by survey. Responses will be coded in a dichotomous 0-1 range, where 1 indicates that the participant correctly identified the healthiest product and 0 indicates that the participant incorrectly identified one of the other two less healthy products as the healthiest product.
Correct identification of least healthy product	During exposure to intervention (i.e., study stimuli), assessed during one-time online 10-minute survey.	Correct identification of least healthy product will be measured by survey. Responses will be coded in a dichotomous 0-1 range, where 1 indicates that the participant correctly identified the least healthy product and 0 indicates that the participant incorrectly identified one of the other two healthier products as the least healthy product.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Selection of healthiest product for purchase	During exposure to intervention (i.e., study stimuli), assessed during one-time online 10-minute survey.	Selection of healthiest product for purchase will be measured by survey. Responses will be coded in a dichotomous 0-1 range, where 1 indicates that the participant chose the healthiest product and 0 indicates that the participants selected one of the other two less healthy products.
Correct identification of products high in nutrients	During exposure to intervention (i.e., study stimuli), assessed during one-time online 10-minute survey.	Correct identification of products high in nutrients (i.e., sugar, saturated fat, or sodium) will be measured by survey. Responses will be coded in a dichotomous 0-1 range, where 1 indicates that the participant correctly identified products that are high in a given nutrient and 0 indicates that the participant incorrectly identified products that are not high in a given nutrient as being high in such nutrient.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Gillings School of Global Public Health; 🇺🇸 Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States