Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
Appetite. 2024 Jun 1;197:107301. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2024.107301. Epub 2024 Mar 15.
Emerging evidence suggests that point-of-decision messages may be an effective way to promote healthy food choices. Previous studies show improvements in overall nutritional quality, as well as increases in underconsumed food categories, such as fruits and vegetables, and underconsumed nutrients of public health concern, like dietary fiber. However, there have been multiple approaches used for delivering point-of-decision messages, including very brief messages that remind individuals to consider health during choice, as well as longer messages providing educational information about health benefits. While both approaches have demonstrated positive impacts on outcomes, there is no comparative evidence of the messages' effectiveness. In this study, we examine the impact of four messages on two nutritional attributes of cereals selected in a two-round pre- and post-message breakfast cereal choice exercise with numerous (n = 33) breakfast cereals available. Data were collected via an online survey of adult US residents recruited from the Prolific consumer panel. Three of the messages were simple reminder messages (taste, health, fiber), while there was additionally a longer fiber-focused messaging detailing the health benefits of fiber. Findings show that the simple messages outperformed the longer educational message, though there were some trade-offs between general health and fiber messages. The simple dietary fiber-focused message resulted in significantly higher dietary fiber content in cereals chosen than in any other messaging condition, while the general health message did not result in significantly higher measures of nutritional quality than the simple fiber message. The results of the study suggest that simpler messages may be more effective at increasing the nutritional quality of food choices. Additionally, messages focused on specific nutrients lead to significantly greater increases in the content of those nutrients.
新出现的证据表明，决策点信息可能是促进健康食品选择的有效方法。以前的研究表明，整体营养质量得到了改善，同时增加了食用不足的食物类别，如水果和蔬菜，以及人们关注的公共卫生营养不足的营养物质，如膳食纤维。然而，传递决策点信息的方法有很多种，包括提醒个人在选择时考虑健康的非常简短的信息，以及提供有关健康益处的教育信息的较长信息。虽然这两种方法都对结果产生了积极影响，但没有关于信息有效性的比较证据。在这项研究中，我们研究了四条信息对两轮预信息和后信息早餐谷物选择练习中选择的两种谷物营养属性的影响，在该练习中有许多（n=33）早餐谷物可供选择。数据是通过一项在线调查收集的，调查对象是从 Prolific 消费者小组中招募的美国成年居民。三条信息是简单的提醒信息（口味、健康、纤维），此外还有一条更长的纤维重点信息，详细说明了纤维的健康益处。研究结果表明，简单信息的效果优于更长的教育信息，尽管在一般健康和纤维信息之间存在一些权衡。简单的膳食纤维重点信息导致选择的谷物中的膳食纤维含量明显高于其他任何信息传递条件，而一般健康信息并没有导致营养质量的衡量标准明显高于简单纤维信息。研究结果表明，更简单的信息可能更有效地提高食品选择的营养质量。此外，针对特定营养物质的信息会导致这些营养物质的含量显著增加。
