An online survey on food-related beliefs and choices

Last registered on February 07, 2022
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
An online survey on food-related beliefs and choices
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0008839
Initial registration date
February 04, 2022

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
February 07, 2022, 1:40 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
Denmark
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Sarah Zaccagni
Affiliation
University of Copenhagen
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Beatrice Braut
PI Affiliation
University of Turin
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2022-02-20
End date
2022-09-01
Keywords
Behavior, Health
Additional Keywords
food, choice, behavior, beliefs, health, dietary habits, covid
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
In order to promote a healthy diet in a successful way, individuals’ knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and behavior towards food must be taken into consideration. The aim of this food-related survey is to investigate the following: i) whether individuals perceive certain products as healthy or unhealthy; ii) which factors drive subjects’ choice towards one product or another (price, taste, etc.); iii) subjects’ beliefs on which food the majority of individuals perceive as healthy; iv) whether people who have been affected by covid-19 (with loss of taste and smell) attribute more or less importance to taste in making their food choice; v) whether the perception of products as healthy differs between people who have been affected by covid-19 or not; vi) whether people feel happier to switch from a portion of unhealthy food to a healthy one if they are driven by intrinsic motivation (sticking on their intentions of having a good diet) or extrinsic motivation (adhering to a government policy aiming at promoting healthy food). In addition to the investigation of the above questions, we will use the results of this survey to select the snacks to use in a subsequent lab experiment. In particular, in the lab experiment, we will use the snacks that individuals declare to perceive as healthy in the survey.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Braut, Beatrice and Sarah Zaccagni. 2022. "An online survey on food-related beliefs and choices." AEA RCT Registry. February 07. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.8839-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The intervention consists of a provision of information to the participants. We have three different versions of the survey which differ by how we frame a vignette designed to elicit emotional reactions to adhere to a healthy diet. In particular, we have a control group to which we ask how the subject would feel in a situation where s/he arrived home late and tired and wants to eat an unhealthy snack but instead eats healthy. In the two treatment groups, we manipulate the motivation for this, asking the participants how they would feel after switching from an unhealthy to a healthy snack driven by intrinsic or extrinsic motivation (i.e. desire to be on diet or comply with a national policy).
Intervention Start Date
2022-03-15
Intervention End Date
2022-04-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
- beliefs
- choices
- factors
- emotional reaction
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experiment consists of an online survey, distributed through online channels (mainly Facebook groups). The aim is to collect the majority of the observations from Danish individuals, but we will use also the information from international individuals.
The survey takes 10-15 minutes and it is anonymous. In the first part of the survey, subjects are asked to answer a set of questions related to 8 food products. In this part of the survey, we will collect the outcomes: "beliefs", "choices", "factors". In a second part of the survey, we will ask the subjects to declare their opinion about other people's perception of food's healthiness. In the third part, we well collect demographic information (including whether individuals have contracted Covid19).
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done by the survey software
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
300
Sample size: planned number of observations
300 (minimum. We will use all the obs collected in the intervention timeframe)
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
100
100
100
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials