NCT06412276

Out-of-home Consumer Food Purchase Behaviour in the Presence and Absence of Value Pricing and Price Promotions

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 2,051 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Liverpool · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

It is important to understand the role that price-based incentives in the out-of-home food sector play in food purchasing, and whether they lead to positive savings for the consumer (as they would likely anticipate when making purchases), or whether these incentives lead to increased spending and increased purchasing of unhealthy products. Additionally, it is important to consider whether the impacts of price-based incentives differ according to a range of demographic characteristics. For example, some evidence suggests that effects of removing a price-based incentive are greater in individuals with a higher BMI. Evidence also suggests there may also be differences in impact according to socioeconomic position (SEP) as individuals in lower SEP groups reportedly use price-based incentives more frequently. If lower SEP individuals are more affected by price-based incentives (i.e. they prompt ordering in excess and greater spend), then the banning of such strategies could help to reduce health inequalities, by nudging lower SEP consumers toward healthier dietary choices in the OOH food sector. To date, it is unclear what effect policies which remove specific types of price-based incentives would be likely to have on consumer behaviour. In particular, individual product price reductions (e.g. £ off this product), bulk buy price reductions (e.g., Save £ when bought together) and volume value pricing (e.g., the price increase from a small to large portion size not being directly proportional to volume increase). Therefore our primary objectives are: • To observe the effect of removing price-based incentives (individual product price reductions, bulk buy price reductions, volume value pricing) in the OOH food sector on: * Energy purchased per household * Money spent per household Secondary Objectives: • To explore whether any effects of removing price-based incentives differ based on participant characteristics (BMI, SEP, food choice motives)

Detailed description

See attached study protocol for detailed information

Conditions

• Food Selection
• Healthy Eating
• Eating Behavior

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Control	Food menu will be provided as is typical for the out of home outlet
BEHAVIORAL	Product price promotions removed	Food menus with no price reductions to products
BEHAVIORAL	Bulk buy reductions removed	Food menus with bundles provided but not at reduced prices
BEHAVIORAL	Volume value pricing removed	Food menus with proportionate pricing for multi-size products
BEHAVIORAL	No price-based incentives	Food menus with no price-based incentives offered

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-06-01
• Primary completion: 2024-07-26
• Completion: 2024-10-28
• First posted: 2024-05-14
• Last updated: 2024-11-01

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United Kingdom