Comparing Designs for Restaurant "Eco-Labels"

Comparing Designs for Environmental Sustainability "Eco-Labels" for Restaurant Menus

The aim of this study is to compare responses to 5 different types of labels for restaurant menus: 1) Control (non-sustainability-label: neutral labels not referencing environmental sustainability); 2) Numeric text-only sustainability label; 3) Endorsement text-only sustainability label; 4) Endorsement icon-only sustainability label; 5) Endorsement text-plus-icon sustainability label. Participants will be randomized to 1 of the 5 labeling arms above. Each participant will view 3 labels (shown in random order) from their randomly assigned labeling arm and respond to survey questions about each label (e.g., attention, perceived effectiveness).

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Food Preferences
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Neutral labels; Behavioral: Numeric text-only sustainability labels; Behavioral: Endorsement text-only sustainability labels; Behavioral: Endorsement icon-only sustainability labels; Behavioral: Endorsement text-plus-icon sustainability labels

Detailed Description

This is an online randomized controlled trial. Investigators will recruit participants through a survey company to complete an online survey. In the study, participants will be randomized to 1 of 5 labeling arms: 1) Control (non-sustainability-label: neutral labels not referencing environmental sustainability); 2) Numeric text-only sustainability label; 3) Endorsement text-only sustainability label; 4) Endorsement icon-only sustainability label; 5) Endorsement text-plus-icon sustainability label. Participants will be randomized to 1 of the 5 labeling arms above. Each participant will view 3 labels (shown in random order) from their randomly assigned labeling arm and respond to survey questions about each label (e.g., attention, perceived effectiveness).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 2207
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Anna Grummon, PhD; Phone Number: 6506447366; Email: agrummon@stanford.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Amanda Study Team, MPH; Email: foodresearchlab@stanford.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Palo Alto, California, United States, 94304
      • Stanford School of Medicine

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participants will be US adults
• Ages 18 or older
• With an over-sample of adults (50% of total sample) 18-29 years

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

5

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Neutral labels; Labels shown will be QR codes with and without neutral text (i.e., not mentioning environmental impacts)	Behavioral: Neutral labels; Participants view neutral labels (QR codes with and without neutral text) for menu items
Experimental: Numeric text-only sustainability labels; Labels shown will contain numeric text depicting the greenhouse gas emissions associated with production of the menu item	Behavioral: Numeric text-only sustainability labels; Participants view labels with numeric text depicting the greenhouse gas emissions associated with production of the menu item
Experimental: Endorsement text-only sustainability labels; Labels shown will contain text endorsing menu items as having low environmental impact	Behavioral: Endorsement text-only sustainability labels; Participants view labels using text to endorse menu items as having low environmental impact
Experimental: Endorsement icon-only sustainability labels; Labels shown will contain icons endorsing menu items as having low environmental impact	Behavioral: Endorsement icon-only sustainability labels; Participants view labels using icons to endorse menu items as having low environmental impact
Experimental: Endorsement text-plus-icon sustainability labels; Labels shown will contain both text and icons endorsing menu items as having low environmental impact	Behavioral: Endorsement text-plus-icon sustainability labels; Participants view labels using text and icons to endorse menu items as having low environmental impact

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Perceived message effectiveness	Participants will rate the extent to which the label makes them want to choose items with the label on a 5-point scale ranging from low (1) to high (5). They will also rate the extent to which the label makes eating items with the label seem appealing to them on a 5-point scale ranging from low (1) to high (5). These items are adapted from the 3-item UNC Perceived Message Effectiveness scale. Investigators will average responses to these two items to create a perceived message effectiveness score, which will also range from low (1) to high (5). Higher scores therefore indicate higher perceived message effectiveness.	The survey will take up to 20 minutes

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Attention	Participants will rate the extent to which the label captures their attention on a 5-point response scale ranging from low (1) to high (5). Higher scores indicate more attention-grabbing labels (a better outcome).	The survey will take up to 20 minutes
Thinking about environmental effects	Participants will rate the extent to which the label makes them think about the environmental impacts of their food choices on a 5-point response scale ranging from low (1) to high (5). Higher scores indicate labels elicit more thinking about environmental effects (a better outcome).	The survey will take up to 20 minutes
Anticipated social interactions	Participants will rate how likely they are to talk about the label with others in the next week on a 5-point response scale ranging from low (1) to high (5). Higher scores indicate labels elicit more anticipated social interactions (a better outcome).	The survey will take up to 20 minutes
Believability	Participants will rate how believable the label is on a 5-point response scale ranging from low (1) to high (5). Higher scores indicate labels are more believable (a better outcome).	The survey will take up to 20 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Stanford University
• Collaborators: Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Anna H Grummon, PhD, Assistant Professor

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 7, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 7, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): August 7, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 11, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 11, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): July 20, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 16, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 15, 2023
• Last Verified: August 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: food labeling; diet; sustainability; food choices
• Other Study ID Numbers: 69580b

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: In the consenting process, participants agreed that de-identified data produced from this project may be distributed for future research studies without additional informed consent. After analysis, we will upload the de-identified data to ResearchBox for public sharing.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Starting 6 months after publication
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Public
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: SAP

Drug and device information, study documents

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