Visual Attention to Text and Pictorial Food Labels: An Eye Tracking Experiment

The goal of this study is to examine attention elicited by icon, text-only, and control front-of-package food labels. The study also aims to explore whether English language proficiency moderates the impact of icon vs. text-only labels on attention.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Health Behavior
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Text only sodium label; Behavioral: Icon sodium label; Behavioral: Pictorial sodium label; Behavioral: Barcode label

Detailed Description

In this study, participants will attend one in-person visit, lasting approximately 15 minutes after signing informed consent. First participants will complete an eye tracking task where their attention to study stimuli is measured objectively via an eye tracker (i.e., eye tracking task). The eye tracking task will take ~5 minutes. Then, participants will complete a brief ~10 minute self-administered survey on a computer.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 63
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • North Carolina
    • Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, 27599
      • University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult aged 18 or older
• Self-identifies as Hispanic or Latino

Exclusion Criteria:

• Less than 18 years old
• Does not identify as Hispanic or Latino
• Has one of the following conditions: (Wears bifocals, glaucoma, permanently dilated pupils, eye implants [artificial lenses, not contact lenses], less than 2 eyes, or blindness)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Front of package food label; 4 labels (3 sodium labels, 1 control barcode label) are shown on an image of a soup can

Behavioral: Text only sodium label; "Warning: High in sodium." is shown in a black square label on the can of soup.; Behavioral: Icon sodium label; "Warning: High in sodium." is shown beneath a yellow triangle icon with an exclamation mark all in a black square label on the can of soup.; Behavioral: Pictorial sodium label; "Warning: High in sodium." is shown beneath an image of a spilled salt shaker, all in a black square label on the can of soup.; Behavioral: Barcode label; Barcode is shown in white square label on the can of soup

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Amount of Time Spent Looking at the Front-of-package Sodium Label (i.e., Dwell Time)	This outcome will be measured using eye tracking technology.	During ~5-minute eye tracking task, as part of a one-time study visit lasting ~30 minutes

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Times Looking at the Front-of-package Sodium Label (i.e., Fixation Count)	This outcome will be measured using eye tracking technology.	During ~5-minute eye tracking task, as part of a one-time study visit lasting ~30 minutes
Time to First Fixation on the Front-of-package Sodium Label	This outcome will be measured using eye tracking technology.	During ~5-minute eye tracking task, as part of a one-time study visit lasting ~30 minutes
Dwell Time on "Natural" Claim	This outcome will be measured using eye tracking technology.	During ~5-minute eye tracking task, as part of a one-time study visit lasting ~30 minutes
Self-reported Attention to the Front-of-package Sodium Label	Assessed with 1 item for each label type. Response options will range from 1 to 5. Higher scores indicate more attention.	During ~10 minute online survey, as part of one-time study visit lasting ~30 minutes
Perceived Message Effectiveness of the Front-of-package Sodium Label	Assessed with 3 items for each label type. Response options will range from 1 to 5. Higher scores indicate greater perceived message effectiveness.	During ~10 minute online survey, as part of one-time study visit lasting ~30 minutes
Understandability of Front-of-package Sodium Label	1 item for each label type. Response options will range from 1 to 5. Higher scores indicate more understandability.	During ~10 minute online survey, as part of one-time study visit lasting ~30 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Collaborators: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Marissa Hall, PhD, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 2, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 29, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): September 29, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 12, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 20, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): July 25, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 13, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 9, 2024
• Last Verified: October 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 23-0659; K01HL147713 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Deidentified individual data that supports the results will be shared beginning 9 months following publication provided the investigator who proposes to use the data has approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB), Independent Ethics Committee (IEC), or Research Ethics Board (REB), as applicable, and executes a data use/sharing agreement with the University of North Carolina (UNC).
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Data will be available 9 months after and up to 10 years following publication.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: The investigator has approved IRB, IEC, or REB and an executed data use/sharing agreement with UNC.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: SAP; ANALYTIC_CODE

Drug and device information, study documents

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