NCT04381481

Studying the Impact of Product Packaging in a Virtual Store Environment

Completed NA Results posted Last updated 18 June 2021

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Experimental Drink: Nutrition claim on fruit drinks in Obesity, Childhood in 2,374 participants. Completed in 24 July 2020.

Timeline

14 May 2020

Primary endpoint
24 July 2020

24 July 2020

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	single
Primary purpose	prevention
Enrollment	2,374
Start date	14 May 2020
Primary completion	24 July 2020
Estimated completion	24 July 2020
Sites	1 location across United States

Drugs / interventions tested

• Experimental Drink: Nutrition claim on fruit drinks
• Control Drink: No nutrition claim
• Experimental snack: Text warning
• Experimental snack: Graphic warning
• Control snack: barcode label

Conditions studied

• Obesity, Childhood — all drugs for Obesity, Childhood →

Sponsor

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Who can join

Adults 18 to 99, any sex, with Obesity, Childhood. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Results — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov

Per-arm endpoint measurements with 95% confidence intervals where reported. Source: trial results section.

Percent of Participants Who Selected the Grape-Flavored Fruit Drink (Fruit Drink Experimental Task 1) Primary · During virtual shopping task which will last ~5 minutes

Measured as percent of participants selecting grape-flavored fruit drink rather than 100% grape juice (objectively measured).

Group	Value	95% CI
Control Beverage	32
Claim 1 Beverage	45
Claim 2 Beverage	51
Claim 3 Beverage	54

Percent of Participants Who Selected the Lower Sugar Granola Snack (Snack Experimental Task 2) Primary · During virtual shopping task which will last ~5 minutes

Measured as percent of participants selecting lower sugar granola snack rather than higher sugar granola snack (objectively measured).

Group	Value	95% CI
Control Snack	66
Text Snack	79
Graphic Snack	82

Percent of Participants Who Misperceive That the Fruit Drink Does Not Have Added Sugar (Fruit Drink Experimental Task 1) Secondary · 13-15 minutes post-test computer survey following the ~5 minute virtual shopping task.

The percent of participants who hold the misperception that the fruit drink does not have added sugar. Measured by response to the question, "Do you think this beverage has added sugar?" Response options are yes/no. Misperception coded as "no."

Group	Value	95% CI
Control Beverage	12
Claim 1 Beverage	42
Claim 2 Beverage	22
Claim 3 Beverage	47

Percent of Participants Who Misperceive That the Fruit Drink is 100% Fruit Juice (Fruit Drink Experimental Task 1) Secondary · 13-15 minutes post-test computer survey following the ~5 minute virtual shopping task.

The percent of participants who hold the misperception that the fruit drink is 100% fruit juice. Measured by response to the question, "Do you think this beverage is 100% fruit juice?" Response options are yes/no. Misperception coded as "yes."

Group	Value	95% CI
Control Beverage	22
Claim 1 Beverage	36
Claim 2 Beverage	35
Claim 3 Beverage	56

Number of Teaspoons of Added Sugar Participants Think the Fruit Drink Contains (Fruit Drink Experimental Task 1) Secondary · 13-15 minutes post-test computer survey following the ~5 minute virtual shopping task.

Amount of added sugar people think the product contains. Measured by response to the questions, "A can of regular soda contains 8 teaspoons of added sugar. How many teaspoons of added sugar do you think this beverage has?" Response is free text entry limited to 0-100 (# of teaspoons). This question is only asked if the participant believes the product has added sugar (see outcome 3).

Group	Value	95% CI
Control Beverage	6.4	± 3.8
Claim 1 Beverage	5.8	± 3.4
Claim 2 Beverage	5.7	± 3.8
Claim 3 Beverage	5.9	± 4.4

Mean Percent of Fruit Juice That Participants Believe the Fruit Drink Contains (Fruit Drink Experimental Task 1) Secondary · 13-15 minutes post-test computer survey following the ~5 minute virtual shopping task.

The mean percentage of fruit juice participants think the product contains. Measured by response to the question, "What percentage of this beverage do you think is fruit juice?" Response is a sliding scale 0 - 100 (percent fruit juice). This question is only asked if the participant does not believe the drink is 100% fruit juice (see outcome 4).

Group	Value	95% CI
Control Beverage	35.4	± 23.0
Claim 1 Beverage	46.3	± 24.4
Claim 2 Beverage	40.8	± 24.7
Claim 3 Beverage	43.9	± 25.4

Perceived Misleadingness of Fruit Drink (Fruit Drink Experimental Task 1) Secondary · 13-15 minutes post-test computer survey following the ~5 minute virtual shopping task.

Perceived misleadingness of the fruit drink as determined by asking the question, "This beverage is 20% fruit juice and contains 39 grams of added sugar. How misleading do you think the information on this product is?" The response options are on a scale: 1 = Not at all misleading…5 = Extremely misleading.

Group	Value	95% CI
Control Beverage	3.3	± 1.3
Claim 1 Beverage	3.7	± 1.3
Claim 2 Beverage	3.7	± 1.2
Claim 3 Beverage	3.9	± 1.2

Perceived Product Healthfulness of Fruit Drink for Child's Daily Consumption (Fruit Drink Experimental Task 1) Secondary · 13-15 minutes post-test computer survey following the ~5 minute virtual shopping task.

Perceived product healthfulness as determined by asking the question, "How healthy or unhealthy would it be for \[child you shopped for\] to drink this beverage every day?" The response options are on a scale: 1 = Very unhealthy...5= Very healthy.

Group	Value	95% CI
Control Beverage	3.3	± 1.3
Claim 1 Beverage	3.6	± 1.2
Claim 2 Beverage	3.7	± 1.2
Claim 3 Beverage	3.8	± 1.1

Interest in Giving the Fruit Drink to One's Child (Fruit Drink Experimental Task 1) Secondary · 13-15 minutes post-test computer survey following the ~5 minute virtual shopping task.

Interest in giving fruit drinks to one's child as determined by asking the question, "How likely would you be to give this beverage to your child?" The response options are on a scale: 1 = Not at all likely…5 = Extremely likely)

Group	Value	95% CI
Control Beverage	3.4	± 1.2
Claim 1 Beverage	3.7	± 1.1
Claim 2 Beverage	3.7	± 1.2
Claim 3 Beverage	3.8	± 1.1

Percent of Participants Who Selected Apple-flavored Fruit Drink (Fruit Drink Experimental Task 1) Secondary · During virtual shopping task which will last ~5 minutes

Measured as percent of participants selecting apple-flavored fruit drink rather than water (objectively measured).

Group	Value	95% CI
Control Beverage	55
Claim 1 Beverage	61
Claim 2 Beverage	60
Claim 3 Beverage	62

Perceived Appeal of Fruit Drink (Fruit Drink Experimental Task 1) Secondary · 13-15 minutes post-test computer survey following the ~5 minute virtual shopping task.

Perceived appeal of fruit drink as determined by asking the question, "How appealing would your child find this beverage?" The response options are on a scale: 1 = Very unappealing…5=Very appealing.

Group	Value	95% CI
Control Beverage	4.1	± 1.0
Claim 1 Beverage	4.2	± 0.9
Claim 2 Beverage	4.3	± 0.8
Claim 3 Beverage	4.2	± 0.9

Interest in Consuming the Fruit Drink (Fruit Drink Experimental Task 1) Secondary · 13-15 minutes post-test computer survey following the ~5 minute virtual shopping task.

Interest in consuming the fruit drink as determined by asking the questions, "How likely would you be to drink. this beverage?" The response options are on a scale: 1 = Not at all likely…5= Extremely likely.

Group	Value	95% CI
Control Beverage	3.3	± 1.4
Claim 1 Beverage	3.5	± 1.3
Claim 2 Beverage	3.5	± 1.3
Claim 3 Beverage	3.6	± 1.3

Sponsor's own description

Purpose: Examine the impact of nutrition claims on parents' decisions to purchase fruit drinks in a randomized controlled trial in an online virtual convenience store (task 1) and examine the impact of added sugar warnings on parents' snack purchasing decisions in a randomized controlled trial in an online virtual convenience store.

Participants: Participants will consist of approximately 2,500 individuals 18 and older with at least one child ages 1-5. The child 1-5 who had their birthday most recently must have consumed at least one fruit drink in the previous week. Additionally, they will live in the United States and identify as non-Hispanic black, non-Hispanic white, or Hispanic. The panel research company Kantar will recruit individuals from its pool of potential individuals.

Procedures (methods): The investigators will randomize participants to one of 12 versions of a virtual convenience store (iShoppe) and then the participants will complete two shopping tasks in the store. They will select two beverages (task 1) for their child 1-5 who had their birthday most recently, and they will select a snack (task 2) for that same child. After completing the shopping tasks, the participant will complete a survey in Qualtrics. The survey will ask a series of questions about the beverages and snacks (e.g., perceived healthfulness, perceived appeal, intentions to consume products). Questions will also include standard demographic and health related variables.

Publications & conference data

2 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Nutrition-related claims lead parents to choose less healthy drinks for young children: a randomized trial in a virtual convenience store.
   Hall MG, Lazard AJ, Higgins ICA, Blitstein JL, et al · · 2022 · cited 23× · PMID 35040866 · DOI 10.1093/ajcn/nqac008
2. Do sugar warning labels influence parents' selection of a labeled snack for their children? A randomized trial in a virtual convenience store.
   Taillie LS, Higgins ICA, Lazard AJ, Miles DR, et al · · 2022 · cited 10× · PMID 35526703 · DOI 10.1016/j.appet.2022.106059