Restaurant Menu Carbon Footprint Labeling

Impact of Restaurant Menu Carbon Footprint Labeling on Consumers Purchase Intentions and Perceptions

This online randomized clinical trial will test the effects of restaurant menu carbon footprint labels on consumers' choices and perceptions of restaurant menu items.

Study Overview

• Status: Enrolling by invitation
• Conditions: Food Preferences
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Exposure to calorie information; Behavioral: Exposure to carbon footprint information

Detailed Description

This online randomized clinical trial will test the effects of restaurant menu carbon footprint labels on consumers' choices and perceptions of restaurant menu items. Participants will be randomized to see a restaurant menu with one of two labeling schemes: 1) Control: calorie labels only; 2) Carbon footprint labels in addition to calorie labels. Participants will be instructed to select an entree to hypothetically order from an online restaurant menu. After selecting, they will be asked to answer questions about their perceptions of menu items and carbon footprint labels.The primary outcome will be the average carbon footprint of menu items chosen from the online menu.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 1000
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Pennsylvania
    • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104
      • University of Pennsylvania

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 14 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• US adults aged 18 or older

Exclusion Criteria:

• Younger than 18
• Non-US

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

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Control; Calorie labels shown on online restaurant menu	Behavioral: Exposure to calorie information; Calories for all foods and beverages
Experimental: Carbon footprint labels; Carbon footprint labels shown on online restaurant menu next to every item in addition to calorie labels	Behavioral: Exposure to calorie information; Calories for all foods and beverages; Behavioral: Exposure to carbon footprint information; Carbon footprint labels for all foods and beverages

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Carbon footprint of selected menu item	Participants will select a menu item to purchase from the online restaurant menu. Outcome is carbon footprint of selected item.	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Calories in selected menu item	Participants will select a menu item to purchase from the online restaurant menu. Outcome is calorie content of selected item.	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Perceived enjoyment of high-carbon-footprint menu item	This variable will be measured on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from not at all (1) to a great deal (5)	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Perceived enjoyment of low-carbon-footprint menu item	This variable will be measured on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from not at all (1) to a great deal (5)	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Perceived likelihood to order high-carbon-footprint menu item	This variable will be measured on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from not at all likely (1) to extremely likely (5)	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Perceived likelihood to order low-carbon-footprint menu item	This variable will be measured on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from not at all likely (1) to extremely likely (5)	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Perceived healthfulness of high-carbon-footprint menu item	This variable will be measured on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from not at all healthy (1) to extremely healthy (5)	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Perceived healthfulness of low-carbon-footprint menu item	This variable will be measured on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from not at all healthy (1) to extremely healthy (5)	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Estimated calories in high-carbon-footprint menu item	Open response variable	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Estimated calories in low-carbon-footprint menu item	Open response variable	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Perceived carbon footprint of high-carbon-footprint menu item	This variable will be measured with three multiple choice options: larger, smaller, or about the same carbon footprint compared to the typical menu item's carbon footprint	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Perceived carbon footprint of low-carbon-footprint menu item	This variable will be measured with three multiple choice options: larger, smaller, or about the same carbon footprint compared to the typical menu item's carbon footprint	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Perceived lowering of carbon footprint for high-carbon-footprint menu item	This variable will be measured on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from not at all (1) to a great deal (5)	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Perceived lowering of carbon footprint for low-carbon-footprint menu item	This variable will be measured on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from not at all (1) to a great deal (5)	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Noticing carbon footprint labels	Participants will respond "yes," "no," or "I don't know" to the item: "Think back to the beginning of this survey. When you were looking at the Just Salad menu, did you notice any labels (other than calorie information or price) next to or beneath the food items?"	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Label influence	If participants responded "yes" to noticing labels, they will respond to "How did the label alone (not the calorie information or price) influence what you chose to order, if at all? The label…" with three options: more likely, less likely, or no effect	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Perceived Message Effectiveness of labels	Three items averaged together: How much does this label discourage you from wanting to eat foods with a larger carbon footprint? [1-5: Not at all, very little, somewhat, quite a bit, a great deal] How much does this label make you concerned about the environmental effects of eating foods that have a larger carbon footprint? [1-5: Not at all, very little, somewhat, quite a bit, a great deal] How much does this label make eating foods with a larger carbon footprint seem unpleasant to you? [1-5: Not at all, very little, somewhat, quite a bit, a great deal]	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Believability of labels	Item: How much do you believe this label? [1-5: Not at all, very little, somewhat, quite a bit, a great deal]	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Learned from labels	Item: To what extent did you learn something new from this label? [1-5: Not at all, very little, somewhat, quite a bit, a great deal]	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Talk about labels with others	Item: How likely are you to talk about this label with others? [Likert scale from not at all likely (1) to extremely likely (5)]	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.
Understand the labels	Item: How easy or difficult was it to understand this label? [Likert scale from very easy (1) to extremely difficult (5)]	The survey will take up to 20 minutes.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Pennsylvania

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Anticipated): November 1, 2022
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): November 1, 2022
• Study Completion (Anticipated): December 1, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 19, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 19, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): October 24, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 16, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 15, 2022
• Last Verified: November 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: food labeling; eating; choice behavior; carbon footprint; dietary sustainability
• Other Study ID Numbers: 849162

Drug and device information, study documents

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