Decision-Making Processes While Online Grocery Shopping

May 9, 2019 updated by: Julia Hormes, University at Albany

Individuals living with food insecurity are disproportionately affected by overweight and obesity and associated chronic health problems. There remains a lack of sustainable and scalable interventions targeting widespread barriers to access to healthy foods in this population to increase the nutritional quality of foods purchased for preparation and consumption at home.

This randomized controlled proof-of-principle trial was designed to examine the feasibility and initial efficacy of a "default option" in enhancing the nutritional quality of groceries selected via the online shopping service of a local grocery store under conditions that mimic the financial constraints typical of individuals living with food insecurity.

In behavioral economics, the "default option" refers to the option a consumer selects if no active choice is made. The notion of the default option is based on the concept of "asymmetrical" or "libertarian paternalism," which seeks to subtly shift consumer behavior in a manner that promotes welfare, but without overtly interfering with the individual's freedom to choose.

It was hypothesized that the "default" option effectively increases the nutritional quality of foods purchased online, compared to monetary incentives and psychoeducation about nutrition.

Female undergraduate students (n = 60) selected food for one week using the online shopping service of a local grocery store with a budget corresponding to maximum weekly Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Before completing the task again, participants were randomized to: (1) a small monetary "incentive" for selecting groceries that meet nutritional guidelines (n = 17), (2) an "educational" brochure (n = 24), or (3) a "default" pre-filled online shopping cart containing a nutritionally balanced selection of groceries to which they could freely make changes (n = 18).

Primary outcome measures capture the nutritional quality of groceries selected/ purchased.

Study Overview

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

16 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • age 18 or older
  • fluent in written and spoken English
  • able to provide informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • significant dietary restrictions (i.e., meat avoidance, food allergies, religious dietary restrictions, etc.)
  • likely presence of current eating disorder diagnosis (score >/= 2 on SCOFF screening measure)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Default

The "default option" is a behavioral economics construct that refers to the option a consumer selects if no active choice is made (e.g. opt-out 401K plans, which significantly increase enrollment, compared to active sign up).

Participants in the default condition were presented with a pre-filled online shopping cart containing a combination of groceries that meet macro- and micronutrient requirements for their gender and age, and told that they are free to delete, add, and exchange any item they wish to finalize their selections.

Active Comparator: Psychoeducation
Participants in the psychoeducation condition were instructed to read a brief psychoeducational brochure adapted from materials currently utilized by the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance ("Eat Smart New York").
Active Comparator: Incentive
Participants in the incentive condition were informed that they will receive a gift card to a major retailer of their choice if they select groceries that meet recommended nutritional guidelines for macro- and micronutrient requirements. Participants were given examples of macro- and micronutrients to ensure that the instructions were clear.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Nutritional quality
Time Frame: Single laboratory visit, <1.5 hours
The Thrifty Food Plan Calculator (TFPC) was used to quantify the nutritional quality of groceries selected by study participants. The TFPC was developed using U.S. Department of Agriculture nutrition and consumption data and is designed to have users input information about the relative amount of money spent on various categories of food and provides comprehensive information on caloric, macro-, and micronutrient content of the foods selected based on participant age and gender.
Single laboratory visit, <1.5 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

January 13, 2016

Primary Completion (Actual)

September 29, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

September 29, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 28, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 11, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

August 14, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 13, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 9, 2019

Last Verified

May 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 16-E-005-01

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

Undecided

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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