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

University of Liverpool

Status: Completed

Conditions: Food Selection; Healthy Eating; Eating Behavior

Treatments: Behavioral: Product price promotions removed; Behavioral: No price-based incentives; Behavioral: Bulk buy reductions removed; Behavioral: Volume value pricing removed; Behavioral: Control

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06412276

Price-based incentive study

Details and patient eligibility

About

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)

Full description

See attached study protocol for detailed information

Enrollment: 2,051 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Currently reside in the United Kingdom
• Over the age of 18 years
• Fluent English speaker Frequently use food delivery apps or websites (at least once a month, on average)
• Frequently eat takeaway pizza (i.e. once every 2-3 months)
• Can complete the study on a laptop or desktop

Exclusion criteria

• Partaking in a fast or other restrictive eating for religious reasons at time of participation

• Dietary restrictions/intolerances including:

  • Gluten-free
  • Dairy-free
  • Sugar-free

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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2,051 participants in 5 patient groups

Control

Experimental group

Description:

Food menu typical for the out-of-home outlet with * Product price promotions (25% off orders over £10) * Bulk buy reductions (bundle options for reduced prices) * Volume value pricing (increase in size for a disproportionately small increase in price)

Treatment:

Behavioral: Control

Product price reductions removed

Experimental group

Description:

Food menu without product price promotions

Treatment:

Behavioral: Product price promotions removed

Bulk buy price reductions removed

Experimental group

Description:

Food menu without price decrease for bulk-buy items (i.e. bundles available but not at a decreased price)

Treatment:

Behavioral: Bulk buy reductions removed

Volume value pricing removed

Experimental group

Description:

For products on the food menu with size increases, increases in price will be made proportionate (as opposed to value)

Treatment:

Behavioral: Volume value pricing removed

No price-based incentive

Experimental group

Description:

Food menus will be provided with no price-based incentives

Treatment:

Behavioral: No price-based incentives