Public acceptability of obesity interventions

Last registered on October 21, 2020

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Public acceptability of obesity interventions

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0006648

Initial registration date

October 20, 2020

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

October 21, 2020, 8:35 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Helen Brown

Affiliation

Behavioural Insights Team

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2020-10-22

End date

2020-11-05

Keywords

Behavior, Health

Additional Keywords

JEL code(s)

I18 Government Policy • Regulation • Public Health

Secondary IDs

Abstract

There is evidence to suggest that public acceptability of health interventions is affected by how those interventions are framed (i.e. the way they are described and presented). In this study, we assess i) how the framing of the drivers of obesity, and ii) the framing of interventions as being delivered by the government, influences public perception of interventions to tackle overweight and obesity. We will explore these questions through an online randomized controlled trial; in which around 6000 participants will be randomized to one of 4 groups: (I) control (i.e. no framing, and no mention of government), (II) explanation of obesity as being caused by the environment, (III) explanation of obesity as being caused by industry, and (IV) government framed as implementing interventions to tackle obesity. Participants in each group will then be presented with a series of interventions to tackle obesity, and asked to rate how acceptable they find them and how effective they perceive them to be. Results will be compared across groups.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Brown, Helen. 2020. "Public acceptability of obesity interventions." AEA RCT Registry. October 21. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.6648-1.0

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

There is evidence to suggest that public acceptability of health interventions is affected by how those interventions are framed (i.e. the way they are described and presented). In this study, we assess i) how the framing of the drivers of obesity and ii) the framing of interventions as being delivered by the government influences public perception of interventions to tackle overweight and obesity. As such, we have drafted paragraphs to frame obesity as a problem caused by the environment in which we live, and as a problem caused by industry. These will be presented to randomly allocated groups of participants, with a view to testing which (if any) narrative impacts on participants’ opinion of interventions to tackle obesity. For a further intervention arm, we have included the UK government as the body delivering the obesity interventions, to assess whether this is important in shaping whether participants’ find particular obesity interventions acceptable, and whether they think they will be effective.

Intervention Start Date

2020-10-22

Intervention End Date

2020-11-05

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Continuous variable, acceptability of interventions to tackle obesity (rated on a Likert scale to indicate whether participants support or oppose an intervention)

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

As previously, this will be a randomized controlled trial, featuring 4 arms: (I) control (i.e. no framing, and no mention of government), (II) explanation of obesity as being caused by the environment, (III) explanation of obesity as being caused by industry, and (IV) government framed as implementing interventions to tackle obesity.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization performed by computer, upon entering an online survey

Randomization Unit

Individual

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

~6000 participants

Sample size: planned number of observations

~6000 participants

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

1500 (I) control
1500 (II) explanation of obesity as being caused by the environment
1500 (III) explanation of obesity as being caused by industry
1500 (IV) government framed as implementing interventions to tackle obesity

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

Primary analysis: A difference of 0.18 SD between framings; and between messengers. Secondary analysis: Differences of 0.14 SD for individual responsibility outcome; 0.19 SD for intervention support outcomes. Cohens d 0.2, 80% power, 5* Alpha significance level.

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB