Virtual Reality Effects on Food Intake Game to Decrease Food Intake
Condition: Food Intake
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Aims:

        -  The first aim was to replicate the pre-exposure effect. This was done by assessing the
           effect of exposing participants to a puzzle game with real foods compared to real
           nonfoods on food intake.

        -  The second aim was to investigate the potential of VR for eliciting the pre-exposure
           effect. This was done by comparing the effect of a VR puzzle game with foods to a VR
           puzzle game with nonfoods on food intake.

        -  The third aim was to assess the effect of branding in VR on brand responses and the role
           of emotional responses herein. This was done by comparing a branded virtual puzzle game
           with foods with a (non-branded) virtual puzzle game with foods.

      Study design: a randomized 2 (game: real vs virtual) x 2 (product: food vs non-food)
      between-subjects design lab experiment, the effectiveness of pre-exposure to food in a VR
      game is tested. A fifth condition was added ("VR x branded food") in order to examine brand
      effects.
    

Detailed description: 
      Aim: Every day, people are exposed to a wide variety of tasty foods, which is thought to be
      the leading cause of overeating. However, subsequent intake is believed to decrease when
      individuals engage with foods outside an eating context in an unrelated task-this is called
      the pre-exposure effect. Thus far, this effect has only been found when tempting foods are
      physically present. The current study aims to examine whether the effect also occurs when
      hyper-realistic food is present in VR.

      Virtual reality (VR) provides the ultimate level of immersion, creating a sense of physical
      presence in the three-dimensional virtual environment. Therefore, VR has a major potential
      for implementation of the pre-exposure effect in an intervention and to assess the underlying
      psychological mechanisms. The level of immersion is also thought to increase the effects of
      brand exposure. Here, a VR game was developed with realistic virtual foods and it was
      assessed in the lab whether interaction with virtual foods decreases subsequent food intake
      similarly as real foods do. In addition the effects of brand exposure in VR on brand-relevant
      outcomes were assessed.

      Aims:

        -  The first aim was to replicate the pre-exposure effect. This was done by assessing the
           effect of exposing participants to a puzzle game with real foods compared to real
           nonfoods on food intake.

        -  The second aim was to investigate the potential of VR for eliciting the pre-exposure
           effect. This was done by comparing the effect of a VR puzzle game with foods to a VR
           puzzle game with nonfoods on food intake.

        -  The third aim was to assess the effect of branding in VR on brand responses and the role
           of emotional responses herein. This was done by comparing a branded virtual puzzle game
           with foods with a (non-branded) virtual puzzle game with foods.

      Study design: In a randomized 2 (game: real vs virtual) x 2 (product: food vs non-food)
      between-subjects design lab experiment, the effectiveness of pre-exposure to food in a VR
      game is tested. A fifth condition was added ("VR x branded food") in order to examine brand
      effects.
    

Intervention name(s): Real Food; Real Nonfood; Virtual reality Food; Virtual reality Nonfood; Virtual reality Food Branded
Intervention type(s): Other; Other; Other; Other; Other
Intervention description(s): The game was played while sitting behind a table in the lab. The task in the game was to finish a tangram puzzle. In the Real Food condition, the tangram pieces were tempting food products (i.e., pieces of chocolate). Players had to physically move the chocolate pieces with their hands and puzzle them together.; The game was played while sitting behind a table in the lab. The task in the game was to finish a tangram puzzle. In the Real Nonfood condition, the tangram pieces were plain pieces (i.e., pieces of wood). Players had to physically move the wooden pieces with their hands and puzzle them together.; The game was played by wearing a VR head-mounted display (HMD VR: HTC Vive) and people could interact in the virtual environment with the hand-held controllers. The task in the game was to finish a tangram puzzle. In the Virtual Reality Food condition, the tangram pieces were tempting food products (i.e., pieces of virtual chocolate). Players had to physically move the virtual chocolate pieces with the grab button on the controller and puzzle them together.; The game was played by wearing a VR head-mounted display (HMD VR: HTC Vive) and people could interact in the virtual environment with the hand-held controllers. The task in the game was to finish a tangram puzzle. In the Virtual Reality Nonfood condition, the tangram pieces were plain pieces (i.e., pieces of virtual wood). Players had to physically move the virtual wood pieces with the grab button on the controller and puzzle them together.; The game was played by wearing a VR head-mounted display (HMD VR: HTC Vive) and people could interact in the virtual environment with the hand-held controllers. The task in the game was to finish a tangram puzzle. In the Virtual Reality Food condition, the tangram pieces were tempting food products (i.e., pieces of virtual chocolate). Players had to physically move the virtual chocolate pieces with the grab button on the controller and puzzle them together. In the background of the puzzle, a chocolate brand ('Milka') is shown
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: In a 2 (game: real vs virtual) x 2 (product: food vs non-food) between-subjects design lab experiment, the effectiveness of pre-exposure to food in a VR game is tested. A fifth condition was added ("VR x branded food") in order to examine brand effects.
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: virtual reality; pre-exposure; food cravings