Designing Impactful Warnings for Sugary Drinks
Condition: Health Behavior
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The goal of this online RCT study is to examine how sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) health
      warnings influence US adults' perceptions and reactions. The investigators have the following
      predictions:

        1. SSB warnings will be perceived as more effective than the control (message topic)

        2. Icon and graphic warnings will be perceived as more effective than text-only warnings
           (message type)

      The investigators will also examine the interaction of warning topic and warning type, but
      have no specific hypothesis about this interaction.

      Finally, the investigators will test the following predictions about the secondary outcomes:

      SSB warnings (vs. control), as well as icon and graphic warnings (vs text.warnings), will
      lead to lower perceived product healthfulness, lower purchase intentions, and higher
      cognitive elaboration.
    

Detailed description: 
      Childhood obesity is a major public health problem in the US among racial and ethnic
      minorities, including among the US's growing Latino population. One promising but
      understudied policy for addressing childhood obesity is requiring warnings on the front of
      sugar-sweetened beverage containers. However, the topic and design of warnings that are most
      effective in communicating the harms of sugar-sweetened beverages remains unknown. This study
      assess which warning topics and which warning designs lead to the greatest perceived message
      effectiveness among US Latino and non-Latino parents of children ages 2-12. The investigators
      focus on parents as they are the primary decision-makers and purchasers of food products for
      children and exert strong influence over their children's dietary intake and food attitudes.

      Setting: The trial will take place online on a survey developed using Qualtrics.

      Recruitment: Participants will be recruited online by CloudResearch PrimePanels, a survey
      research platform with access to over 20 million participants. As such, participants will
      have to be PrimePanels members in order to participate.

      Informed Consent: After determining eligibility, eligible participants will be directed to a
      page on Qualtrics with the consent form. Participants acknowledge their consent in the study
      by clicking the "next page" arrow and proceeding to the study.

      Randomization: After consenting, the participant is randomly assigned to to view one of the 5
      warning topics. "WARNING: High in added sugar" (added sugar), "WARNING: Excess consumption of
      drinks with added sugar contributes to weight gain" (weight gain), "WARNING: Excess
      consumption of drinks with added sugar contributes to type 2 diabetes" (Type 2 diabetes),
      "WARNING: Excess consumption of drinks with added sugar contributes to heart damage" (heart
      damage), and "Please refrain from littering" (control). Within each of the four experimental
      arms, participants see the message displayed on four different types of warning designs: a
      text warning on a square background, a text warning on a octagon background, and icon
      warning, and a graphic warning. Within the control arm, participants see the message
      displayed on three different types of warning designs: a text warning on a square background,
      an icon warning, and a graphic warning. Participants randomly see the different warning
      designs in a random order.

      Survey: The participants complete a survey answering behavioral perceptions and intentions
      questions about the different warning labels.
    

Intervention name(s): Text warning with square background; Text warning with octagon background; Icon warning; Graphic warning
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral; Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The warning message is in white text on a black square background; The warning message is in white text on a black octagon background; The warning message in in white text on a black background, below an icon that conveys the topic the warning is about; The warning message in in white text on a black background, below a graphic that conveys the topic the warning is about
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Prevention