The Effects of Financial Incentives for the Purchase of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables among Low-Income Households: Evidence from Field Experiments.

Last registered on December 26, 2025

Pre-Trial

General Information

Title

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0017439

Initial registration date

December 09, 2025

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

December 26, 2025, 1:45 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country

France

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Daniela Lima Rente

Affiliation

EconomiX (UMR 7235), Paris Nanterre University and CNRS ; Interprofessional Technical Center for Fruit and Vegetables (CTIFL), France

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Noémi Berlin

PI Affiliation

CNRS and EconomiX (UMR 7235), Paris Nanterre University, France

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Tarek Jaber-Lopez

PI Affiliation

Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Institute for Public Goods and Policies (IPP), Spain

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Anne-Laure LEVET

PI Affiliation

Interprofessional Technical Center for Fruit and Vegetables (CTIFL), France

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

Completed

Start date

2025-12-10

End date

2025-12-13

Keywords

Behavior, Health

Additional Keywords

Low-income households, Financial incentives, Consumer behavior, Fresh fruits and vegetables, Experimental economics, Public policy.

JEL code(s)

C93 ; D12 ; D91 ; I14 ; I38

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

In a context of underconsumption of fruits and vegetables, particularly among disadvantaged populations, as well as rising poverty, food insecurity, and inflation, we are conducting an experimental study in France on the impact of financial incentives on the consumption of fruit and vegetables among low-income households. The objective is to ensure access to healthy and sustainable food for all and thereby to mitigate long-term health issues associated with poor diets.

The timing of the incentive can influence consumers' perception of the assistance received and produce varying effects. Two financial incentives are therefore evaluated: an voucher (immediate) and a post-purchase refund (deferred). The objective of this study is to observe and analyze the purchasing behavior of 450 low-income households through a shopping simulation conducted on an experimental online sales site.

This research contributes to a better understanding of financial incentive mechanisms regarding fruit and vegetable consumption and helps identify the optimal incentive measure for low-income households in France.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Berlin, Noémi et al. 2025. "The Effects of Financial Incentives for the Purchase of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables among Low-Income Households: Evidence from Field Experiments.." AEA RCT Registry. December 26. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.17439-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

The intervention consists of completing an online grocery purchase on an experimental platform designed to reproduce a typical online supermarket. The platform includes the full range of product departments commonly found in food retail: fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy products, meat and poultry, fish and seafood, cured meats and prepared dishes, sweet and savoury grocery products, frozen foods, beverages, bakery and pastry, plant-based and gluten-free products, as well as baby food products. The offer includes on average 750 products.
The following are excluded:
• alcoholic beverages (for regulatory reasons),
• organic products or products bearing quality labels, in order to avoid introducing an additional decision dimension that would not be relevant to the study objectives.
The assortment was designed to realistically reflect the range of products available in standard online food retail, while limiting the multiplication of similar items by variety or format.
The intervention aims to assess whether a financial incentive targeted at fresh fruits and vegetables increases their purchase among low-income households, while measuring its redistribution and substitution effects on other product categories. The incentive covers the equivalent of two portions of fresh fruits and vegetables per day for each household member. Each participant is asked to assemble a weekly shopping basket for their entire household. The budget allocated is calculated according to household composition, based on average expenditures observed in France (Kantar, 2025 data)

Intervention (Hidden)

Intervention Start Date

2025-12-10

Intervention End Date

2025-12-13

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Expenditure on fresh fruits and vegetables (total amount spent in euros).

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Objective purchase outcome (recorded on the experimental platform). This outcome enables the assessment of the direct effect of the financial incentive on the targeted products.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Purchased outcomes:
1. Quantity purchased on fresh fruits and vegetables – units or weight, per sub-department and department.
2. Purchase incidence on fresh fruits and vegetables – binary indicator (yes/no) : purchase rate within a sub-department and department.
3. Expenditure on all other product categories – total amount spent (euros) per sub-department and department for all non–fruit and vegetable product categories.

Behavioral measures :
1. Time preferences - hypothetical intertemporal choice task (€y today vs. €x in 1 year, …)
2. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation scores - TSRQ for healthy eating
3. Risk aversion level – Likert scale (0-10) (Dohmen et al., 2011, American Economic Review)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Expenditure, Quantity purchased and purchase incidence : For fresh fruits and vegetables, these measures allow for a more detailed assessment of the intervention’s impact; specifically, changes in the average quantities purchased and changes in the proportion of participants purchasing these products. For all other product categories, these outcomes allow for the evaluation of redistribution and substitution effects associated with the financial incentive.

Behavioral measures : collected via standardized questionnaires or tasks
- Time preference (preference for the present): Derived from a fixed-sequence intertemporal choice task. Participants choose between a fixed delayed reward (€x in 1 year) and a progressively decreasing immediate reward. The switching point identifies their indifference point and discount rate (standard method in behavioral economics; Mazur, 1987).
- Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: Measured using the Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire (TSRQ) adapted for healthy eating behaviors. Separate scores are generated for intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
- Risk aversion: Measured using a single question on a 0–10 Likert scale, following Dohmen and al., 2011 (American Economic Review).

These outcome variables make it possible to assess the effect of the financial incentive as a function of behavioral characteristics (e.g., time preferences, risk aversion), as well as to evaluate its impact on participants’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivation levels.

Experimental Design

Treatments:
1. Control group
2. Treatment group voucher for fresh fruits and vegetables
3. Treatment group reimbursement after purchase for fresh fruits and vegetables

Participants are randomly assigned to one of the three groups. Randomization is implemented by the recruitment provider, who is responsible for allocating participants to the different groups.

The financial incentive corresponds to an amount equivalent to two servings of fresh fruits and vegetables per person per day for the household. All participants receive monetary compensation for their participation, and 10% of baskets are actually delivered to participants’ homes. The selection of delivered baskets is conducted through a live online lottery for participants.

The study targets French low-income households, with 150 participants per group, for a total of 450 participants.

Mission / Procedure:
Participants complete a single online grocery shopping task on an experimental platform designed to replicate a real supermarket, including all standard departments and sub-departments. Each participant is asked to compose a weekly grocery basket for their household using a budget calibrated to household composition; with or without financial incentive. After completing the shopping task, participants complete a short questionnaire including socio-demographic data, behavioral measures and self-reported information.

The study is conducted in a single session for each participant.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Participants are randomly assigned to one of three groups by the recruitment provider.

Randomization Unit

Individual. Each participant is randomly assigned to one of three groups

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

0 (individual-level randomization)

Sample size: planned number of observations

450

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

150 participants per group

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

The power calculation, based on An et al., 2013, indicates that a sample of 128 participants per group is required to achieve 80% power to detect a statistically significant effect at the 0.05 significance level. With 150 participants per group, the expected power increases to approximately 86%.

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB