Consumers' Preference for Sustainable Food

Study Overview
=================
Brief Summary
-----------------
This study aims to test and compare the effectiveness of three priming interventions on consumers' selection of sustainable foods: priming with environmental benefits, health benefits and co-benefits (environment and health benefits).

Official Title
-----------------
Can we Prime Sustainable Food Choice? A Mix-methods Study

Conditions
-----------------
Food Consumption

Intervention / Treatment
-----------------
* Behavioral: Priming intervention


Participation Criteria
=================
Eligibility Criteria
-----------------
Inclusion Criteria: Subjects should be aged 18 years or above Hong Kong residents Be able to read Chinese Exclusion Criteria: Subjects who have vegan or vegetarian diets Subjects who have to follow special diets due to illnesses will be excluded.

Ages Eligible for Study
-----------------
Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
-----------------
All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
-----------------
Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
=================
How is the study designed?
-----------------

Design Details

Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| No Intervention: Control message group<br>Participants will not receive the priming manipulation. | |
| Experimental: Health benefits priming group<br>Participants will be cueing with health benefits by asking to do a word-search exercise beginning with: In the following, please choose words/statements that can indicate that having a healthy and sustainable diet can have health benefits, such as... | Behavioral: Priming intervention<br>* The priming manipulation will be embedded in one discrete choice experiment to test the effect of three priming interventions: priming with health benefits, environment benefits, and co-benefits of having sustainable diets, respectively, on consumers' preference for sustainable foods, and the relative importance of proximal attributes (e.g. taste and price) and distant attributes (e.g., attributes related to environmental sustainability) in determining food choice preference, as well as testing whether the effects of these three priming interventions can be modified by consumers' social orientation values. The cueing manipulation will be achieved by asking participants to complete a word-search exercise.<br>|
| Experimental: Environmental benefits priming group<br>Participants will be cueing with environmental benefits by asking to do a word-search exercise beginning with: In the following, please choose words/statements that can indicate that having a healthy and sustainable diet can have environmental benefits, such as... | Behavioral: Priming intervention<br>* The priming manipulation will be embedded in one discrete choice experiment to test the effect of three priming interventions: priming with health benefits, environment benefits, and co-benefits of having sustainable diets, respectively, on consumers' preference for sustainable foods, and the relative importance of proximal attributes (e.g. taste and price) and distant attributes (e.g., attributes related to environmental sustainability) in determining food choice preference, as well as testing whether the effects of these three priming interventions can be modified by consumers' social orientation values. The cueing manipulation will be achieved by asking participants to complete a word-search exercise.<br>|
| Experimental: Environmental and health co-benefits priming group<br>Participants will be cueing with environmental and health co-benefits by asking to do a word-search exercise beginning with: In the following, please choose words/statements that can indicate that having a healthy and sustainable diet can have both benefits for health and the environment, such as... | Behavioral: Priming intervention<br>* The priming manipulation will be embedded in one discrete choice experiment to test the effect of three priming interventions: priming with health benefits, environment benefits, and co-benefits of having sustainable diets, respectively, on consumers' preference for sustainable foods, and the relative importance of proximal attributes (e.g. taste and price) and distant attributes (e.g., attributes related to environmental sustainability) in determining food choice preference, as well as testing whether the effects of these three priming interventions can be modified by consumers' social orientation values. The cueing manipulation will be achieved by asking participants to complete a word-search exercise.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
-----------------
Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Consumers' preference for choosing sustainable foods measured by Discrete Choice Experiment | Measure name: consumers' food consumption preference Measure tool: an online discrete choice experiment Measure units: The frequency of choosing sustainable food | Within 1 day of randomization | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Measure participants' social orientation value using Social Orientation Value Scale | Measure name: Social Orientation Value (SVO) Measure tool: survey questionnaire Measure units: subjects can slide along a continuum of own-other payoff allocations, measure units should be the times participants choose own or self. | Within 1 day of randomization |