Effectiveness of Conflict-of-interest Disclosures on Trust, Credibility and Transparency When Displayed on Social Media Posts From Registered Dietitians

Summary

There is limited research to inform policies and guidelines related to disclosing conflicts of interest on social media by healthcare professionals, including Registered Dietitians (RDs). This trial investigates mock social media posts by an RD to examine the impact of varying forms of conflict-of-interest (COI) disclosures. The disclosures tested are based on the Canadian Ad Standards "Influencer Marketing Disclosure Guidelines" and are incorporated into recommendations established by the provincial dietetic regulatory bodies for RDs. Specific outcomes evaluated include the public's ability to identify a COI; trust in the RD; credibility of the RD; transparency of the social media post and; purchasing and consumption intentions of the product endorsed by an RD in the post.

Conditions

• Registered Dietitian
• Conflict of Interest
• Trust
• Credibility
• Transparency

Interventions

OTHER

Group 1 Not an ad disclosure

Same social media post viewed as all other groups. @brandname in the narrative body of the social media post; #NotAnAd in the narrative body of the social media post

OTHER

Group 2 Basic Disclosure

Same social media post viewed as all other groups. @brandname in the narrative body of the social media post; #ad in the narrative body of the social media post

OTHER

Group 3 Basic + Paid Partnership Disclosure

Same social media post viewed as all other groups. COI disclosures include "paid partnership" in the header and a tag for the industry partner; @brandname and #ad immediately at the beginning of the narrative body of the social media post; #ad and #sponsored at the bottom of the narrative body of the social media post.

OTHER

Control

No COI disclosure elements (i.e. no hashtags ). Only the @brandname is included within the narrative body of the social media post.

OTHER

Group 4 Basic + Paid Partnership + Image label

Same social media post viewed as all other groups. COI disclosures include "paid partnership" in the header and a tag for the industry partner; @brandname and #ad immediately at the beginning of the narrative body of the social media post; #ad and #sponsored at the bottom of the narrative body of the social media post; #ad (black text, white background) appears on the photo associated with the social media post

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Ontario Institute of Technology

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-10-28

Primary Completion

2024-11-24

Completion

2024-11-24

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations