Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT04811690

Front-of-package Marketing on Fruit Drinks: Online RCT

This study will test the independent and combined effects of front-of-package claims, imagery, nutrition disclosures, and added sugar warning labels on parents' purchases and perceptions of beverages for their children.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Consumer Behavior Behavior Consumer Preference

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Online Recruitment, run via Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, United States

About this study

Fruit drinks are widely consumed by 0-5-year-olds. Parents purchase these drinks for their children in part due to misperceptions that they are healthful, which may be driven by front-of-package (FOP) marketing. The FDA is considering changes to FOP marketing regulations but lacks data on how label elements influence consumer behavior. Our study will test the independent and combined effects of FOP claims, imagery, nutrition disclosures, and added sugar warning labels on parents' purchases and perceptions of beverages for their children.

We will conduct an online randomized controlled trial with 5,000 racially/ethnically diverse primary caregivers of children aged 0-5 years. Participants will choose a beverage for their child in an online store and rate health perceptions of different fruit drinks. Participants will be randomized to see high-added-sugar beverages (>20% DV added sugar/serving) with 1 of 7 FOP label conditions: 1) vitamin C claim and fruit imagery (control); 2) imagery only; 3) claim only; 4) no claim or imagery; 5) claim, imagery, and % juice disclosure; 6) claim, imagery, and added sugar warning; or 7) claim, imagery, and added sugar warning w/teaspoons of added sugar.

Primary outcomes will include total calories and added sugar (grams) from chosen online store beverages. Secondary outcomes will include health perceptions and knowledge of added sugar and % juice content in low- and high-added-sugar fruit drinks.

This research will inform federal regulation to correct health misperceptions of sugary drinks.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Primary caregiver of a child 0-5 years old
  • >= 18 years old
  • U.S. citizen

Exclusion criteria

  • Participants who complete the survey in less than 1/3 of the median completion time
  • Observations from duplicate IP addresses (keep first observation that is unique)
  • Participants who answer data integrity check incorrectly

Treatment and study plan

front-of-package modification

Behavioral

testing front-of-package changes to claims, imagery, disclosures, and added sugar warning labels on fruit-flavored drinks

Primary outcomes

  1. Calories in beverage chosen in online store task

    Time frame: through study completion, an average of 15 minutes

    Calories in beverage chosen in online store task

  2. Added sugar content (grams) of beverage chosen in online store task

    Time frame: through study completion, an average of 15 minutes

    Added sugar content (grams) of beverage chosen in online store task

Secondary outcomes

  1. Percentage of participants that chose a drink high in added sugars in online store task

    Time frame: through study completion, an average of 15 minutes

    Percentage of participants that chose a drink high in added sugars (>=20%DV) in online store task

  2. Percentage of participants that chose each drink category in online store task

    Time frame: through study completion, an average of 15 minutes

    Percentage of participants that chose each drink category (e.g., 100% juice, fruit drinks) in online store task

  3. Fruit drink perceptions: likelihood to purchase for child, how healthy for child, how appealing to child, disease risk perceptions for child

    Time frame: through study completion, an average of 15 minutes

    Fruit drink perceptions: likelihood to purchase for child, how healthy for child, how appealing to child, disease risk perceptions for child

  4. Knowledge of juice and added sugar content in beverage

    Time frame: through study completion, an average of 15 minutes

    Knowledge of % juice and added sugar content (categorical and continuous in grams) in beverage

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)

Other

Collaborators

  • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Registry information

Official study title

Testing the Impact of Front-of-package Claims, Imagery, Nutrition Disclosures, and Added Sugar Warning Labels on Fruit Drinks in an Online Store: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Important dates

Study start
2021
Primary completion
2021
Study completion
2021
First posted
Mar 23, 2021
Registry last updated
Jul 28, 2021

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.