Clinical trial NCT06179043: Impact of Front-of-package Warning Labels on Perceived Weight Stigmatization
Official title: Examining the Impact of Different Types of Front-of-package Warning Labels for Sugar-sweetened Beverages on Perceived Weight Stigmatization Among a Sample of US Adults
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Weight Stigma
Lead sponsor: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Stanford University
First posted: 2023-12-21
Enrollment: 2522
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 21
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: FACTORIAL
Intervention model description: Between-subjects intervention: label type (4 arms); Within-subjects intervention: regular or weight-neutral version of label (2 versions).
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: The goal of this experiment is to examine the effects of three different types of front-of-package warning labels for sugar-sweetened beverages on perceived weight stigmatization, as well as the effect of making such labels more weight-neutral. The main questions this experiment aims to answer are:

* Are certain types of front-of-package warning labels perceived as more stigmatizing than others?
* Are more weight-neutral versions of front-of-package warning labels perceived as less stigmatizing than their regular versions?
* Is there a trade-off between label effectiveness in discouraging product consumption and perceived weight stigmatization?

Additionally, this experiment also aims to answer the following questions:

* Does exposure to certain types of front-of-package warning labels lead to changes in participants' weight bias?
* Are changes in participants' weight bias as a result of label exposure mediated by attribution of personal responsibility for body weight, pathogen disgust, or perceived social consensus?

Detailed description: Participants will be randomly assigned to see one of four types of labels: control labels, nutrient warning labels, text-only health warning labels, or graphic health warning labels. Participants will then see an image depicting different types of fictional sugar-sweetened beverages carrying the label type that they were assigned to. Participants will see this image twice, in random order, each time differing in whether the label is weight-neutral or not (i.e., whether the label references calories/obesity or not). Each time, participants will answer survey questions about the label. Last, participants will answer survey questions measuring their weight bias and potential mediating variables.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion criteria:

* At least 21 years of age.
* Residing in the US.

Exclusion Criteria:

-Involved in any pre-testing.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Perceived weight stigmatization, mean score
timeFrame: Immediately after exposure to intervention (i.e., study stimuli), assessed during one-time online study survey.
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Perceived message effectiveness, mean score
timeFrame: Immediately after exposure to intervention (i.e., study stimuli), assessed during one-time online study survey.
measure: Weight bias, mean score
timeFrame: Immediately after exposure to intervention (i.e., study stimuli), assessed during one-time online study survey.
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Chapel Hill
country: United States
facility: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
state: North Carolina
Study officials:
affiliation: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
name: Aline D'Angelo Campos, MPP
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Grummon AH, Gibson LA, Musicus AA, Stephens-Shields AJ, Hua SV, Roberto CA. Effects of 4 Interpretive Front-of-Package Labeling Systems on Hypothetical Beverage and Snack Selections: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Sep 5;6(9):e2333515. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.33515.
citation: Hayward LE, Vartanian LR. Potential unintended consequences of graphic warning labels on sugary drinks: do they promote obesity stigma? Obes Sci Pract. 2019 Aug 2;5(4):333-341. doi: 10.1002/osp4.353. eCollection 2019 Aug.