Evaluating Taste and Health Messaging in Short Nutrition Education Videos to Improve Diet Quality

Evaluating Taste and Health Messaging in Short Nutrition Education Videos on Increasing Herb and Spice Use to Improve Diet Quality

The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of taste vs. health messaging using nutrition education videos. The nutrition education videos teach Americans the benefits of using herbs and spices to increase diet quality. The investigators aim to test the effectiveness of 10 short videos (5 taste-based messaging and 5 health-based messaging) that translate previous findings of how spices can improve diet quality. These objectives will be pursued via the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 1: Are taste messaging videos more effective in improving consumer interest, knowledge, and confidence in using herbs and spices compared to health messaging focused videos? Hypothesis 2: Will consumers rate the taste messaging videos higher for liking, engagement, and acceptability of herbs and spices compared to health messaging focused videos?

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Behavior, Health
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Videos: Taste messaging focused; Other: Videos: Health messaging focused

Detailed Description

Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: the first group (n=500) will receive the taste messaging focused videos emphasizing taste and flavor, while the second group (n=500) will receive the health messaging focused videos emphasizing the importance of using herbs to improve health. Randomization will occur through REDCap and the randomization feature will be embedded in the survey. Both groups will have access to similar educational content but the focus of the messaging will differ according to the taste or health focused arm. The participants will also complete screening questions first, and if eligible, an online consent form, demographics questionnaire, pre implementation questionnaire via REDCap, data on the participants interest, knowledge and confidence in using spices and herbs before watching the video and then watch 5 videos of either the taste or health focused messaging video (dependent on randomization). Once completed, participants will then complete a post implementation questionnaire, and a post-intervention REDCap survey that will ask about their interest, knowledge and intent in using spices and herbs as well as their feedback on the effectiveness of the videos. The investigators will use the pre and post intervention surveys for analysis. All participants will complete the survey questions online using their own device. The survey will also include more detailed participant information and gather feedback on the implementation of recipes in their own kitchens.

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

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Connecticut
    • Shelton, Connecticut, United States, 06484
      • Dynata Online Market Research Agency

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adults, 18-75 years of age
• Reside in the United States
• Fluent in English
• Have access to internet, a video viewing device (computer, phone, tablet, etc.), and a grocery store
• Able to cook at home at least 2x/week or more

Exclusion Criteria:

• Outside of the 18-75 year age range
• Resides outside the United States
• Are not fluent in English
• Does not have access to internet or video viewing device (computer, phone, tablet, etc.), or a grocery store
• Unable to cook at home at least 2x/week

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Taste video participants (n=500); Participants in this arm will only watch taste focused messaging videos	Other: Videos: Taste messaging focused; Participants in this intervention will watch the taste focused videos.
Active Comparator: Health video participants (n=500); Participants in this arm will only watch health focused messaging videos.	Other: Videos: Health messaging focused; Participants in this intervention will watch the health focused videos.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Ratings for interest, knowledge, confidence variables in using herbs and spices in cooking from before to after exposure to nutrition education videos using Likert scales from 0-5 with 0 being strongly disagree to 5 being strongly agree.	Participants will provide feedback on the taste and health-based messaging videos which will be used to create more effective messaging in the subsequent video development.	Within 5 minutes of watching the nutrition education videos

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Ratings for liking, engagement, and acceptability of using herbs and spices in cooking from before to after exposure to nutrition education videos using Likert scales from 0-5 with 0 being strongly disagree to 5 being strongly agree.	Participants will provide feedback on the taste and health-based messaging videos which will be used to create more effective messaging in the subsequent video development.	Within 5 minutes of watching the nutrition education videos

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Penn State University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 7, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 17, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): November 17, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 14, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 21, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): August 26, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): May 20, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 15, 2025
• Last Verified: May 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00025218

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No