School of Business, Hospitality, Marketing and Sport, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia.
School of Business, Economics, Finance and Property, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia.
BMC Public Health. 2023 Aug 18;23(1):1578. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-16395-z.
Beverages high in added sugar, such as sugar-sweetened soft drinks, continue to be associated with various health issues. This study examines the effects of a manufacturer-initiated multicomponent intervention on the sales of sugar-free (SFD) and sugar-sweetened (SSD) soft drinks and the amount of sugar people purchase from soft drinks in a fast-food restaurant setting.
A database of monthly sales data of soft drinks from January 2016 to December 2018 was obtained from three treatment and three control fast-food restaurants. A multicomponent intervention consisting of free coupons, point-of-purchase displays, a menu board, and two sugar-free replacements for sugar-sweetened soft drinks was introduced in August 2018 for five months in Western Sydney, Australia. A retrospective interrupted time series analysis was used to model the data and examine the effects of the interventions on SFD and SSD sales and their consequential impact on sugar purchases from soft drinks. The analyses were carried out for volume sales in litres and sugar in grams per millilitre of soft drinks sales. A comparison of these measures within the treatment site (pre- and post-intervention) and between sites (treatment and control) was conducted.
The interventions had a statistically significant impact on SFDs but not SSDs. On average, SFD sales in the treatment site were 56.75% higher than in the control site. Although SSD sales were lower in the treatment site, the difference with the control site was not statistically significant. The net reduction of 6.34% in the amount of sugar purchased from soft drinks between sites during the experimental period was attributed to the interventions.
The interventions significantly increased SFD sales and reduced sugar purchases in the short run. Aside from free coupons, the findings support the recommendation for fast food restaurants to nudge customers towards choosing SFDs through point-of-purchase displays and the replacement of popular SSDs with their SFD counterparts.
含糖量高的饮料，如含糖软饮料，与各种健康问题继续相关。本研究检查了制造商发起的多组分干预对无糖（SFD）和含糖（SSD）软饮料销售的影响，以及快餐店环境中人们从软饮料中购买糖的量。
从澳大利亚西悉尼的三家治疗和三家对照快餐店获得了 2016 年 1 月至 2018 年 12 月的软饮料月度销售数据数据库。2018 年 8 月，在澳大利亚西悉尼进行了为期五个月的多组分干预，包括免费优惠券、购买点展示、菜单板和两种含糖软饮料的无糖替代品。使用回顾性中断时间序列分析来对数据进行建模，并检查干预对 SFD 和 SSD 销售的影响，以及它们对软饮料中糖购买的后续影响。对软饮料销售的体积销售（升）和糖含量（每毫升克）进行了分析。对治疗地点（干预前后）和地点之间（治疗和对照）的这些措施进行了比较。
干预对 SFD 有统计学意义，但对 SSD 没有。平均而言，治疗地点的 SFD 销售额比对照地点高 56.75%。尽管治疗地点的 SSD 销售额较低，但与对照地点的差异无统计学意义。实验期间，由于干预，两个地点之间从软饮料购买的糖量减少了 6.34%。
这些干预措施在短期内显著增加了 SFD 的销售并减少了糖的购买。除了免费优惠券外，这些发现支持建议快餐店通过购买点展示引导顾客选择 SFD，并以其 SFD 对应物替代受欢迎的 SSD，从而减少糖的摄入。
