Influence of Social Media Ads on Food Choice - Master Protocol

Examining Influence of Social Media Ads on Black and White Adolescents' Food Choices: Master ClinicalTrials.Gov Protocol for Aim 1 (NCT05380505), Aim 2 (NCT06969638) and Aim 3 (NCT06969651).

This is a Master ClinicalTrials.gov Protocol for study 20-01796:

Aim 1: Examining Influence of Social Media Ads on Black and White Adolescents' Food Choices - Study 1 (NCT05380505)

Aim 2: A Randomized Trial to Examine the Influence of "Likes" in Social Media Food Ads on Black and White Adolescents' Food Purchases - Study 2 (NCT06969638)

Aim 3: Comparing the Effects of Racial Congruence, "Likes," and Food Images in Social Media Ads on Adolescents' Caloric Intake - Study 3 (NCT06969651)

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Food Selection; Calorie Consumption; Food Choices
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Racially Congruent Ads; Behavioral: Racially Incongruent Ads; Behavioral: Black Ads; Behavioral: Many Likes; Behavioral: Few Likes; Behavioral: White Ads; Behavioral: Black-Non Food; Behavioral: White-Non Food; Behavioral: Non Food-Many Likes; Behavioral: Non Food-Few Likes

Detailed Description

The overall objective is to determine the extent to which racially congruent Facebook food ads influence adolescents' food purchases and actual caloric intake. The investigators are conducting three randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The first two aims involve 15-minute online surveys in which participants (Black and White adolescents) rate ads then complete a "food purchasing" task through a virtual vending machine. The third trial will involve an in-person, hour long lab study where participants will be shown ads while investigators covertly monitor their eye movements.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 3650
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Program Manager; Phone Number: 6465013880; Email: krystle.tsai@nyulangone.org
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Zora Hall; Email: zora.hall@nyulangone.org

Study Locations

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

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. be 13-17 years of age;
2. identify as only non-Latino White or only Black/African American;
3. report that they log into Facebook at least once daily; and
4. read and speak English.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Any criteria not met as listed above will bar an adolescent from participating in the study.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

14

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: (Aim 1) Condition 1: Race Congruent Ads; Participants will complete a 15-minute survey in which they will be randomized to view and rate Facebook food ads associated with their condition. Then they will complete a food purchasing task in which they will shop in an online store that will display six food items and six beverages. Finally, they will answer demographic questions (e.g., self-reported height and weight) and view a debriefing summary that describes the full purpose of the study.	Behavioral: Racially Congruent Ads; (Aim 1) Facebook food ads that are racially congruent.
Experimental: (Aim 1) Condition 2: Race Incongruent Ads; Participants will complete a 15-minute survey in which they will be randomized to view and rate Facebook food ads associated with their condition. Then they will complete a food purchasing task in which they will shop in an online store that will display six food items and six beverages. Finally, they will answer demographic questions (e.g., self-reported height and weight) and view a debriefing summary that describes the full purpose of the study.	Behavioral: Racially Incongruent Ads; (Aim 1) Facebook food ads that are racially incongruent.
Experimental: (Aim 2) Black Many Likes; Food ads with many "likes" and featuring Black individuals	Behavioral: Black Ads; (Aim 2 and 3) Food ads that feature Black individuals.; Behavioral: Many Likes; (Aim 2 and 3) Food ads that have many "likes"
Experimental: (Aim 2) Black Few Likes; Food ads with few "likes" and featuring Black individuals	Behavioral: Black Ads; (Aim 2 and 3) Food ads that feature Black individuals.; Behavioral: Few Likes; (Aim 2 and 3) Food ads that have few "likes"
Experimental: (Aim 2) White Many Likes; Food ads with many "likes" and featuring White individuals	Behavioral: Many Likes; (Aim 2 and 3) Food ads that have many "likes"; Behavioral: White Ads; (Aim 2 and 3) Food ads that feature White individuals.
Experimental: (Aim 2) White Few Likes; Food ads with few "likes" and featuring White individuals	Behavioral: Few Likes; (Aim 2 and 3) Food ads that have few "likes"; Behavioral: White Ads; (Aim 2 and 3) Food ads that feature White individuals.
Experimental: (Aim 3) Block 1: Black-Food; Exposure to ads with a Black person featuring a food product	Behavioral: Black Ads; (Aim 2 and 3) Food ads that feature Black individuals.
Experimental: (Aim 3) Block 2: White-Food; Exposure to ads with a White person featuring a food product	Behavioral: White Ads; (Aim 2 and 3) Food ads that feature White individuals.
Experimental: (Aim 3) Block 3: Black-Non Food; Exposure to ads with a Black person featuring a non-food product	Behavioral: Black-Non Food; (Aim 3) Ads featuring a Black person with a non-food product
Experimental: (Aim 3) Block 4: White-Non Food; Exposure to ads with a White person featuring a non-food product	Behavioral: White-Non Food; (Aim 3) Ads featuring a White person with a non-food product
Experimental: (Aim 3) Block 5: Food-Many Likes; Exposure to ads with many "likes" featuring a food product	Behavioral: Many Likes; (Aim 2 and 3) Food ads that have many "likes"
Experimental: (Aim 3) Block 6: Non Food-Many Likes; Exposure to ads with many "likes" featuring a non-food product	Behavioral: Non Food-Many Likes; (Aim 3) Ads with Many "likes" featuring a non-food product
Experimental: (Aim 3) Block 7: Food-Few Likes; Exposure to ads with few "likes" featuring a food product	Behavioral: Few Likes; (Aim 2 and 3) Food ads that have few "likes"
Experimental: (Aim 3) Block 8: Non Food-Few Likes; Exposure to ads with few "likes" featuring a non-food product	Behavioral: Non Food-Few Likes; (Aim 3) Ads with Few "likes" featuring a non-food product

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Calories Purchased	Aim 1 Participants only.	Day 0 (approximately 15 minutes )
Number of Calories Purchased	Aim 2 Participants only.	Day 0 (approximately 5 minutes)
Caloric Intake	Aim 3 Participants only. Number of calories consumed during the study protocol.	Day 0 (approximately 60 minutes)
Visual Attention to Ad Features - First Fixation	Aim 3 Participants only. Measured as time to first fixation to the advertisement.	Day 0 (approximately 60 minutes)
Visual Attention to Ad Features - Gaze Duration	Aim 3 Participants only. Measured as the gaze duration during the advertisement.	Day 0 (approximately 60 minutes)
Visual Attention to Ad Features - Number of Fixations	Aim 3 Participants only. Measured as the number of fixations on ad features.	Day 0 (approximately 60 minutes)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Attitude Toward Ad	Aim 1 Participants only. Attitude will be reported on a Likert scale of 1 to 100 (1 = likeable, 100 = unlikeable). The higher the score, the less likeable the ad is to the participant.	Day 0 (approximately 15 minutes )
Time Spent Viewing Ad	Aim 1 Participants only.	Day 0 (approximately 15 minutes )
Attitude Toward Ad	Aim 2 Participants only. Attitude will be reported on a Likert scale of 1 to 100 (1 = likeable, 100 = unlikeable). The higher the score, the less likeable the ad is to the participant.	Day 0 (approximately 5 minutes)
Engagement with Ads	Aim 2 Participants only. Participants indicate in which ways, if any, they would engage with each ad by answering the following question: "How you would respond if you saw this ad on social media"? [Select all that apply: "Like" [heart icon and other emojis], comment, tag a friend, direct message a friend, re-post, none of the above]). The outcome is measured as the number of participants who indicate they would engage with ads.	Day 0 (approximately 5 minutes)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: NYU Langone Health
• Collaborators: National Cancer Institute (NCI); New York University; National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Marie A. Bragg, PhD, NYU Langone Health

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 16, 2022
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 18, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 18, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): November 25, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 18, 2025
• Last Verified: November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavior; Feeding Behavior; Food Preferences
• Other Study ID Numbers: 20-01796; R01CA248441 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

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