Energy Labelling for Alcohol Drinks in New Zealand: Consumers Perceptions and Impacts on Purchase Behaviour

A two-stage qualitative and quantitative study to provide insight into consumers' awareness of energy in alcoholic beverages, and how energy labelling effects consumer behaviour.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Drinking, Alcohol; Consumption, Alcohol
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Intervention; Behavioral: Control

Detailed Description

Rationale: In 2016/2017, one in five (19.5%) New Zealand adults (≥15 years and older) had an alcohol drinking pattern that carriers a risk of harming the drinker or another, and one in three (32.9%) young adults aged 18 to 24 years are hazardous drinkers. To reduce alcohol-related harm and help New Zealanders make positive decisions about their alcohol use, strategies are needed that not only inform them about health risks but also alter the environment they find themselves in on a daily basis. Unlike most packaged food products, alcoholic beverages are not required to present a statement of the composition of the product, such as amount of alcohol, energy or the nutrient content. It has been suggested that in the absence of this information, consumers of alcohol have no idea how much energy, alcohol or kilojoules they are consuming. Research indicates that nutrition labelling of food and non-alcoholic beverage products does impact consumer perceptions and product evaluations. A recent poll by Stuff showed that 83% of 3,300 New Zealanders indicated that they want to know what they are consuming and supported placement of ingredients and nutritional information on alcohol products.

Objectives: To provide insight into consumers' awareness of energy in alcoholic beverages, and in their views on energy labelling of alcoholic beverages. The project also aims to explore the effects of different types of energy labelling on consumers alcohol purchase behaviour.

Design: Two-staged qualitative and quantitative study.

• Qualitative stage: Focus groups.
• Quantitative stage: Four-arm randomised controlled trial. This qualitative stage aims to test the effects of three different types of alcohol energy labels on alcoholic beverages on (online) purchase behaviour, compared to a control (no label) condition, using an 'online shopping cart'.

Recruitment: Panel.

Sample size: Qualitative stage: n=36 (six focus groups with six people per group); Quantitative stage: n=600 (n=150 participants per experimental condition).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 615
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• New Zealand
  • Auckland, New Zealand
    • National Institute for Health Innovation, University of Auckland

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• are ≥18 years of age;
• having purchased and consumed at least one alcoholic beverage in the past month;
• be able to read English;
• reside in New Zealand;
• be a member of the online panel of "Research Now Survey Sampling International".

Exclusion Criteria:

• Participants not meeting the eligibility criteria will be excluded.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Energy Label 1; Alcoholic beverage displayed with Energy label 1	Behavioral: Intervention; Energy label condition.
Experimental: Energy Label 2; Alcoholic beverage displayed with Energy Label 2	Behavioral: Intervention; Energy label condition.
Experimental: Energy Label 3; Alcoholic beverage displayed with Energy Label 3	Behavioral: Intervention; Energy label condition.
Placebo Comparator: Unlabelled; Alcohol beverage displayed unlabelled.	Behavioral: Control; No label

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Consumer online purchasing behaviour	Consumer online purchasing behaviour assessed on an 11-point Juster scale (where 1 = no chance/almost no chance and 11 = certain/practically certain	Measured immediately after randomization

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Purchase behaviour	Number of alcoholic beverage(s) bought in the online shopping cart	Measured immediately after randomization
Perceived and estimated energy content of displayed product	Assessed using a seven-point scale ranging from "very low" to "very high" and the estimated energy content of the product	Measured at randomization
Perceived confidence in estimating energy content of displayed product	assessed using a seven-point scale ranging from "not confident at all" to "very confident"	Measured immediately after randomization
Intention to consume displayed product	Assessed using a seven-point scale ranging from "would decrease consumption level" to "would increase consumption level"	Measured immediately after randomization
Attitudes towards displayed product	On a seven-point rating scale participants will be asked whether they believe the displayed alcoholic product was expensive/cheap, unattractive/attractive, low quality/high quality, unhealthy/healthy, and taste bad/good.	Measured immediately after randomization
Support for displayed label	On a seven-point rating scale participants will be asked whether they would support the implementation of the displayed label	Measured at randomization
Attitudes towards alcohol	Assessed using the Scale for Measurement of Attitudes Towards Alcohol, a tool used to i) assess people's risk profile regarding the use of alcohol and ii) identify the factors that contribute to determining their attitudes	Measured immediately after randomization

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Auckland, New Zealand
• Collaborators: Te Hiringa Hauora/Health Promotion Agency
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Natalie Walker, PhD, University of Auckland, New Zealand

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Walker N, McCormack J, Jiang, Y, Lang B, Ni Murchu C. (2018). Energy labelling for alcoholic beverages in New Zealand: Clinical trial. Phase 2 report: Wellington: Health Promotion Agency.
• Walker N, McCormack J, Jiang, Y, Lang B, Ni Murchu C. (2018). Energy labelling for alcoholic beverages in New Zealand: Consumer perceptions. Phase 1 report: Focus Groups. Wellington: Health Promotion Agency. ISBN:978-0-478-44956-3.

Helpful Links

• Report
• Report

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 14, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 23, 2018
• Study Completion (Actual): September 23, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 20, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 10, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): June 12, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 19, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 17, 2021
• Last Verified: August 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: consumer behaviour; alcohol labelling; energy labelling
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Drinking Behavior; Alcohol Drinking
• Other Study ID Numbers: NI373821

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No