Young Adult Food Messaging Experiment

N/ANot Yet RecruitingNCT07768462

Stanford University645 enrolled

Overview

The primary objective of this study is to identify the food counter-marketing messages (i.e., messages that describe deceptive marketing tactics used by food companies) that are perceived as most effective among young adults.

Participants will complete a within-subjects, randomized experiment in which they view and rate messages describing deceptive marketing tactics used by food companies to sell unhealthy products. Messages cover five topics: (1) lying about unhealthy products being healthy, (2) engineering foods to be addictive, (3) covering up evidence about the harms of consuming unhealthy products, (4) targeting groups, (5) piggybacking on social causes to promote products. Each topic is presented in five framing variants: an unframed version and four values-based frames that connect the message to a value (e.g., authenticity, fairness). Participants also view one control message, for a total of 26 messages (5 topics × 5 framing variants, plus 1 control). Topic order is randomized across participants; within each topic, the five framing variants are presented consecutively in random order.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

645

Conditions

Diet Quality Young Adult Health Communication

Interventions

Lying about unhealthy foods being healthyBEHAVIORAL

Participants will view 5 messages about how food companies promote unhealthy foods as healthy.

Engineering foods to be addictiveBEHAVIORAL

Participants will view 5 messages about how food companies engineer foods to be addictive.

Targeting groupsBEHAVIORAL

Participants will view 5 messages about how food companies target some groups to sell their unhealthy products.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 29 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Age between 18-29 years * Reside in the United States * Consume at least 5-6 servings per week of sugary drinks and 5-6 servings per week of sweet and salty snacks Exclusion Criteria: * Younger than 18 or older than 29 years * Reside outside of the United States * Consume less than 5-6 servings per week of sugary drinks or less than 5-6 servings per week of sweet and salty snacks

Locations (1)

Stanford School of Medicine

Palo Alto, California, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Perceived message effectiveness for discouraging consumption of unhealthy foods

The study will assess perceived message effectiveness for discouraging consumption of sugary drinks and processed snacks with 1 item: "This message discourages me from wanting to consume sugary drinks and processed snacks." Response options for all items will range from "Not at all" (coded as 1) to "A great deal" (coded as 5). Higher scores indicate higher perceived message effectiveness. The survey will measure perceived message effectiveness immediately after participants are exposed to each message.

Time frame: The survey will take up to 15 minutes

Central Contacts

Amanda Food Policy Lab Study Team

CONTACT

408-598-2672 foodpolicylab@stanford.edu

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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