Targeted Food Incentives to Improve Diet Quality and Health Among Adults
- Conditions
- Diet HabitDiet Modification
- Interventions
- Behavioral: Targeted incentivesBehavioral: Nominal loyalty card discount and nutrition education
- Registration Number
- NCT03748056
- Lead Sponsor
- University of Rhode Island
- 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.
- Detailed Description
A detailed description of Eligibility and outcome measures is entered elsewhere
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- COMPLETED
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 224
- 18 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
- 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
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- CROSSOVER
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Targeted incentives arm Nominal loyalty card discount and nutrition education 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 Usual care arm Nominal loyalty card discount and nutrition education 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. Targeted incentives arm Targeted incentives 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
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Likelihood of purchasing targeted products 3- 6- and 9-month changes within and between the intervention and control groups 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.
Grocery Purchase Quality Index (GPQI) 2016 3, 6- and 9-month changes in the GPQI-16 and its components within and between the intervention and control groups 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
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method 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 The HEI-10 is a validated measure of individual-level diet quality that measures compliance with US Dietary recommendations.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24453128Percent expenditures within targeted categories 3, 6- and 9-month changes in percent spending in targeted categories within and between the intervention and control groups The investigators will compute the percent of shopping dollars people spend in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy, lean meat, and seafood.
Self-reported height and weight used to compute body mass index (BMI) 3, 6- and 9-month changes in BMI The investigators will compute body mass index from self-reported weight in pounds and height in inches (weight (lbs) \* 703/height (in)/height (in)
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
University of Rhode Island
🇺🇸Kingston, Rhode Island, United States