Impact of Behavioral Economic Strategies on Low-Income Older Adults' Food Choices in Online Retail Settings

The specific aims of this proposal are to 1) develop the components of a behavioral economics strategy (i.e., healthy bundle defaults) to influence diet behaviors; 2) characterize the online grocery shopping behaviors and attitudes of low-income adults nationally; and 3) examine the extent to which "healthy bundles defaults" and other behavioral economic strategies increase fruit and vegetable purchases among low-income adults in an online randomized controlled experiment.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Diet Habit
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Simulated Grocery Shopping Exercise

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 7710
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10016
      • NYU Langone Health

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 99 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• aged 18-99 years
• ability to read and speak English
• have ever received SNAP benefits
• live with fewer than 5 people
• access to a personal computer, laptop, tablet, or mobile phone.

Exclusion Criteria:

• aged <18 years or >99 years
• lack the ability to read and speak English
• have never received SNAP benefits
• live with 5 or more people
• do not have access to a personal computer, laptop, tablet, or mobile phone

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Sham Comparator: Control; The grocery shopping simulation will not include any discounts or bundles	Behavioral: Simulated Grocery Shopping Exercise; Participants will click a link and simulate a shopping experience by selecting a week's worth of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)-eligible groceries for their household in a web-based supermarket platform
Active Comparator: Discount; The grocery shopping simulation will include discount on eligible fruits and vegetables	Behavioral: Simulated Grocery Shopping Exercise; Participants will click a link and simulate a shopping experience by selecting a week's worth of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)-eligible groceries for their household in a web-based supermarket platform
Active Comparator: Bundles; The grocery shopping simulation will include healthy bundle defaults with no discount	Behavioral: Simulated Grocery Shopping Exercise; Participants will click a link and simulate a shopping experience by selecting a week's worth of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)-eligible groceries for their household in a web-based supermarket platform
Active Comparator: Bundles and Discount; The grocery shopping simulation will include healthy bundle defaults plus a discount	Behavioral: Simulated Grocery Shopping Exercise; Participants will click a link and simulate a shopping experience by selecting a week's worth of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)-eligible groceries for their household in a web-based supermarket platform

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Real Dollars Spent on Fruit and Vegetables Per Basket	"Fruits and vegetables" are defined as frozen, fresh, and canned fruits and vegetables without added sugars, fats, oils, or salt.	Day 1

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Real Dollars Spent on Eligible Fruits Only	"Eligible Fruits" are defined as fruit items identified as discounted in the online store.	Day 1
Real Dollars Spent on Eligible Vegetables Only	"Eligible Vegetables" are defined as vegetable items identified as discounted in the online store.	Day 1
Real Dollars Spent on Eligible Fresh Fruits and Vegetables	"Eligible Fresh Fruits and Vegetables" are defined as fresh, not frozen or canned, fruit and vegetables items identified as discounted in the online store.	Day 1
Real Dollars Spent on Eligible Frozen Fruits and Vegetables	"Eligible Frozen Fruits and Vegetables" are defined as frozen fruit and vegetables items identified as discounted in the online store.	Day 1
Real Dollars Spent on Eligible Canned Fruits and Vegetables	"Eligible Canned Fruits and Vegetables" are defined as canned fruit and vegetables items identified as discounted in the online store.	Day 1
Total Calories From Fruits and Vegetables Per Basket	"Fruits and vegetables" are defined as frozen, fresh, and canned fruits and vegetables without added sugars, fats, oils, or salt.	Day 1
Number of Participants Who Purchased Fruits and/or Vegetables	Participants who purchased fruits and/or vegetables during their online shopping trip.	Day 1
Number of Participants Who Kept Healthy Bundle Default Shopping Cart Items in Basket at Purchase	"Healthy Bundle Default Shopping Cart Items" are defined as items placed automatically in participants' carts at the beginning of the shopping exercise. Assessed among participants in the Bundles (Arm 3) and Bundles + Discount (Arm 4) arms only.	Day 1

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: NYU Langone Health
• Collaborators: National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 7, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 2, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): December 2, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 18, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 18, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): February 23, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): March 9, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 9, 2023
• Last Verified: February 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 20-01936

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Individual participant data that underlie the results reported in this article, after deidentification (text, tables, figures, and appendices) will be shared upon reasonable request.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Beginning 9 months and ending 36 months following article publication or as required by a condition of awards and agreements supporting the research.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: The investigator who proposed to use the data will have access to the data upon reasonable request. Proposals may be submitted up to 36 months following article publication. After 36 months the data will be available in our University's data warehouse but without investigator support other than deposited metadata. Information regarding submitting requests and accessing data may be found at (Link to be provided).
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP; ICF

Drug and device information, study documents

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