Prompting a Switch From Refined Grains to Whole Grains in an Online Grocery Store Using Marketing Nudges and Financial Incentives
试验速览
- 阶段
- 不适用
- 状态
- 招募中
- 入组人数
- 216
- 试验地点
- 1
- 主要终点
- Change in calories purchased from products that are majority whole grains over time
研究概览
简要总结
Only 2% of Americans meet the recommended levels of whole grain consumption, despite its association with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. This study aims to assess if consumers with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes can be encouraged to switch from buying refined grain products to whole grain products when shopping for groceries online. The study will use personalized marketing strategies, with or without discounts which adjust based on purchasing behavior, to promote whole grain consumption.
详细描述
The overall objective of this study is to determine if behaviorally informed marketing strategies or those same strategies plus dynamically adapted financial incentives can prompt consumers with prediabetes or diabetes to switch from refined to whole grain products when grocery shopping online. The specific aims of the study are:
Aim 1: To demonstrate the feasibility of conducting a randomized controlled trial (RCT) via an online grocery delivery platform and to refine mechanism-based marketing nudges and incentives based on user insights. The overall objective of this aim is to customize the online grocery store experience to align with the needs of the consumers while also supporting the objectives of the two intervention arms outlined in Aim 2. Customizations will include displaying whole grains (e.g., whole wheat bread, brown rice) at the top of the study's online grocery store, featuring whole grain banner displays, and offering product swaps to highlight whole grain alternatives. Additionally, the study team will ensure that all refined grain items have corresponding whole grain options, to the extent possible. To evaluate the platform's usability and gather insights for refining the interventions, the study team will recruit 9 participants to test the customized online grocery store. Participants will provide feedback on the online shopping environment and whole grain options in an end-of-study survey. This feedback will be used to refine the marketing nudge interventions for Aim 2.
Aim 2: To test whether behaviorally informed marketing strategies or those same strategies plus dynamically adapted financial incentives can prompt consumers with prediabetes or diabetes to switch from buying refined grain products to whole grain products when grocery shopping online. Enrolled participants will be randomized to one of three intervention arms: 1) control (no intervention), 2) marketing nudges, or 3) marketing nudges + dynamically adapted financial incentives. Participants will select groceries from the study's online grocery store, and the orders will be delivered to their homes via a third-party delivery service. The first two weeks will serve as a baseline period for data collection. Starting in Week 3, participants in intervention arms 2 and 3 will be exposed to marketing nudges promoting whole grains for 8 weeks. Participants in the third intervention arm will additionally receive personalized financial incentives with individual incentive amounts optimized weekly based on prior whole grain purchasing behavior and engagement. In a typical healthy eating incentive study, all participants would get the same incentive amount each week. An innovative aspect of this study is to dynamically adapt the incentive, so each person experiences a personalized offering of incentives each week based on their whole grain shopping habits in prior weeks. This means participants who did not buy a whole grain item in response to a smaller incentive in a prior week may receive a larger incentive than participants who did purchase whole grains when offered the smaller incentive. This will not be gameable since it will not be apparent to participants a priori. This approach enables us to mimic current retailer practices, rather than more outdated strategies that provide the same incentive weekly.
Aim 3: To examine whether whole grain purchasing behaviors have become habitual and persist after the marketing nudges and dynamically adapted financial incentives cease. The overall objective of this aim is to explore the potential for marketing strategies and dynamically adapted financial incentives to create lasting changes in grocery shopping habits, specifically by examining whether participants continue purchasing whole grain products once the intervention has ended. Participants will be followed for an additional 8 weeks post-intervention to track their online grocery shopping behavior in the absence of the marketing nudges and financial incentives. During this period, participants will continue to shop through the study's online grocery store and have their groceries delivered to them through a third-party delivery service. In addition, for the first 4 weeks of follow-up, they will continue to receive their weekly $10 incentive if they shop in the study's online grocery store. At the conclusion of the study, participants will receive a $25 incentive for completing a survey assessing the intervention's salience, their acceptance of whole grains, and any remaining barriers to switching to whole grains.
研究设计
- 研究类型
- Interventional
- 分配方式
- Randomized
- 干预模型
- Parallel
- 主要目的
- Prevention
- 盲法
- None (Participant)
盲法说明
Participants will be informed that they will be randomly assigned to one of the three intervention arms, but they will not be told which group they are in. It will be necessary to omit these details so that participants will shop for their groceries as they would do in the real-world. The study team hopes this approach minimizes the chances that the participant will purchase foods that they think the study team wants them to purchase. Participants will be fully informed about the randomization process. To conceal the study's purpose, participants will be told that the study team is conducting consumer market research about online shopping experiences but will not be told the study team is specifically interested in understanding the effects of marketing and incentives on whole grain purchases. Participants will be fully debriefed at the end of the study.
入排标准
- 年龄范围
- 45 Years 至 70 Years（Adult, Older Adult）
- 性别
- All
- 接受健康志愿者
- 否
入选标准
- •Age 45 - 70 years.
- •Able to provide consent.
- •Resident of Philadelphia, Bucks, Delaware, Chester, or Montgomery Counties in Pennsylvania.
- •Consume <5 servings of whole grains per day.
- •Use online grocery shopping at least once per month.
- •Have access to a credit or debit card to pay for groceries purchased.
- •Have reliable internet access.
- •Speak English.
- •Penn Medicine patient diagnosed with prediabetes or diabetes (identified using ICD-10 codes R73.03, E11).
排除标准
- •Does not meet all the inclusion criteria.
- •Not able to speak English.
- •Not able to provide consent.
研究组 & 干预措施
Marketing Nudges Only
Marketing nudges encouraging whole grain purchasing, including displaying whole grains (e.g., whole wheat bread, brown rice) at the top of the study's online grocery store, featuring whole grain banner displays, and offering product swaps to highlight whole grain alternatives
干预措施: Marketing Nudges Only (Behavioral)
Control
Completion of weekly grocery shopping in a version of the study store without any interventions (i.e., without marketing nudges and financial incentives)
Marketing Nudges + Dynamically Adapted Financial Incentives
Marketing nudges encouraging whole grain purchasing, including displaying whole grains (e.g., whole wheat bread, brown rice) at the top of the study's online grocery store, featuring whole grain banner displays, and offering product swaps to highlight whole grain alternatives, plus personalized financial incentives with individual incentive amounts optimized weekly based on prior whole grain purchasing behavior and engagement
干预措施: Marketing Nudges + Dynamically Adapted Financial Incentives (Behavioral)
结局指标
主要结局
Change in calories purchased from products that are majority whole grains over time
时间窗: 18 weeks
The study team will use random-effects linear regression models to compare within-subject changes in the calories purchased from whole grains, adjusting for repeated measures, to examine trends over time.
次要结局
- Mean grams of fiber purchased from grain products(18 weeks)
- Change in calories purchased from products that are majority refined grains over time(18 weeks)
- Percent of cart spent on whole grains (total dollar on whole grains/cart total)(18 weeks)
- Change in dollars spent on products that are majority whole grains over time(18 weeks)
- Assessing whole and refined grain purchasing frequency(Assessed at baseline and in end-of-study survey (Week 18))
- Percentage of time grains were purchased as whole and refined grains(Assessed at baseline and in end-of-study survey (Week 18))
- Assessing whole and refined grain consumption frequency(Assessed at baseline and in end-of-study survey (Week 18))
- Percentage of time grains were consumed as whole and refined grains(Assessed at baseline and in end-of-study survey (Week 18))
- Amount of grains eaten at a time(Assessed at baseline and in end-of-study survey (Week 18))
- Perception of whole grains: satisfaction with current whole grain consumption(Assessed at baseline and in end-of-study survey (Week 18))
- Perception of whole grains: beliefs about the impact of eating whole grains on health(Assessed at baseline and in end-of-study survey (Week 18))
- Perception of whole grains: enjoyment of eating whole grains(Assessed at baseline and in end-of-study survey (Week 18))
- Perception of whole grains: efforts to include whole grains in diet(Assessed at baseline and in end-of-study survey (Week 18))
- Perception of whole grains: confidence in ability to include whole grains in diet(Assessed at baseline and in end-of-study survey (Week 18))
- Perception of whole grains: capability of finding whole grains when shopping(Assessed at baseline and in end-of-study survey (Week 18))
- Perception of whole grains: whole grain affordability(Assessed at baseline and in end-of-study survey (Week 18))
- Perception of whole grains: whole grain taste(Assessed at baseline and in end-of-study survey (Week 18))