Designing Impactful Warnings for Sugary Drinks

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.

Conditions

• Health Behavior

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Text warning with square background

The warning message is in white text on a black square background

BEHAVIORAL

Text warning with octagon background

The warning message is in white text on a black octagon background

BEHAVIORAL

Icon warning

The warning message in in white text on a black background, below an icon that conveys the topic the warning is about

BEHAVIORAL

Graphic warning

The warning message in in white text on a black background, below a graphic that conveys the topic the warning is about

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

  collaborator OTHER

• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Marissa G Hall, PhD · University of North Carolina

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

99 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2019-10-07

Primary Completion

2019-11-04

Completion

2019-11-04

Countries

• United States

Study Locations