ObesityNCT02499211
Healthy In-Store Marketing Study
A study testing Intervention stores in people with Obesity, run by University of Pennsylvania at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
Using a cluster randomized controlled design, this study will evaluate effects of in-store healthy food marketing strategies on sales and purchase of specific healthier items in six product categories (milk, frozen entrees, beverage checkout coolers, salty snacks, bread and cheese); and examine the effects of changes… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Obesity
- What is being tested?
- Intervention stores
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 33 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 19 Sep 2014to Dec 2019
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- 18 years of age or older
- Do most of your food shopping at the store where they are recruited
- Speak English
- Be the main household shopper
Who cannot join
- No exclusion criteria defined
- Eligible stores will be at least 35,000 square feet in size, and be located in urban or suburban communities with at least 50% of households below the state median income.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
United States1 site
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104
About this study
Official title: The Impact of Healthy Food Marketing Strategies in Supermarkets
Using a cluster randomized controlled design, this study will evaluate effects of in-store healthy food marketing strategies on sales and purchase of specific healthier items in six product categories (milk, frozen entrees, beverage checkout coolers, salty snacks, bread and cheese); and examine the effects of changes in in-store food marketing environments on sales of healthier foods. If these strategies are found to be effective, they could be used widely to encourage healthy retail sales, complement food access initiatives, and reduce health disparities in obesity and other diseases. Supermarkets will be the unit of randomization, intervention, and analysis.
Read the detailed description
As the prevalence of obesity has increased, public health experts have increasingly focused on the environments that shape overeating and unhealthy food choices. Retail grocery stores are pivotally positioned to influence choices and favorably affect energy balance. Greater availability of healthier foods, if translated to health-promoting purchases, can positively affect diet quality among those at greatest risk for obesity- low-income, ethnic minorities.
The aims of the proposed study are:
- To evaluate, in a cluster randomized controlled trial design, effects of in-store healthy food marketing strategies on sales and purchase of healthier items in six product categories (milk, frozen entrees, beverage checkout coolers, bread, salty snacks and cheese); and
- To evaluate the association of changes in supermarket food marketing environments with changes in sales of specific healthier food items in the same six product categories; and
- To examine the relationships between neighborhood characteristics and changes in sales and purchases of healthier items in the six product categories.
Investigators hypothesize that sales of targeted products will be significantly higher, and that more health-focused food marketing environments will be associated with higher sales of healthy food items.
The study will be conducted in 32 supermarkets in urban, low-income, high-minority neighbor-hoods in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. Intervention strategies will include prime placement, increased visibility of healthier products, call-out signs, and taste-testing for milk. Control stores will be assessment-only. Supermarket chains will help implement the strategies and provide data on sales of targeted products. Interventions will be conducted for 2 years, with an emphasis on scalability and long-term sustainability. The primary outcome measures of purchasing will be weekly sales per store for each product. Individual purchasing will be assessed in a cohort of shoppers by interviews and shopping receipts. The Grocery Marketing Environment Assessment (GMEA) tool will be used to assess marketing environments.
The research team completed a randomized pilot study of a 6-month intervention in eight supermarkets, which demonstrated the impact of the interventions on three food categories. The proposed study will provide an expanded and extended, larger-scale, rigorous test of novel and widely applicable strategies to encourage healthy retail sales, complement increased-access initiatives, and reduce health disparities in obesity and related diseases.
- Conditions
- Obesity
- Being tested
- Intervention stores
- Keywords
- obesity, health disparities, healthy food marketing, food environments, marketing environments, food access, food purchase decision making
- Medical subject headings
- Obesity
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Intervention storesOther
In-store marketing strategies will focus on placement and promotion of healthier items (lower calorie options) in the milk, frozen food, beverage checkout cooler, bread, salty snacks, and cheese sections of the store.
Intervention efforts in the dairy section promote lower calorie milk (skim, 1%, and 2%), while diminishing the presence of whole milk. The visual order of the milk displays will be changed, and the number of facings, or the fronts of packages the consumer can see, of whole milk will be decreased by 30% while increasing the facings of the lower calorie milk. In the other product categories, target products will be moved to eye level and the number of facings will be increased.
Call-out signs will be placed by the target products that list the name and price of the product. No health information or claims will be included. Signage will be rotated monthly to increase the chances that customers will notice them.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Intervention stores | Experimental | Supermarkets will be the unit of randomization, intervention, and analysis. During randomization, stores are paired by size and percent sales of Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding. The intervention will last for 2 years, and will consist of in-store marketing of healthier (lower calorie) products through placement and promotion strategies in 6 food and beverage categories: milk; frozen meals; beverages in checkout coolers; bread; salty snacks; and cheese. Receives: Other: Intervention stores |
| Non-intervention stores | No intervention | No intervention administered. Supermarkets will be the unit of randomization, intervention, and analysis. During randomization, stores are paired by size and percent sales of WIC and SNAP funding. The non-intervention stores will not receive an intervention. |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Weekly sales data by units sold
Store IT managers will provide weekly sales data for the targeted products. The data will include units sold of all targeted products (higher calorie versions and lower-calorie alternatives).
Measured: up to 36 months
Secondary outcomes (1)
Marketing environment in the grocery stores using GMEA
Observations will examine the food promotion environment in supermarkets, including the presence of promotional displays. Summary scores of the amount and visibility of product promotions will be computed for each target product, for other measured products (e.g., produce, cereal), and for the store as a whole using the Grocery Marketing Environment Assessment (GMEA) tool.
Measured: Baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, 15 months, 18 months, 21 months, 24 months
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted16 Jul 2015 (estimated)
- Study start19 Sep 2014
- Primary completionMay 2019
- Study completionDec 2019
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (1)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for ObesityStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by University of PennsylvaniaThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 33 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of Pennsylvania
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- University of Delaware
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Karen Glanz, University of Pennsylvania
- Investigators
- Karen Glanz, PhD, MPH, Principal investigator, University of Pennsylvania
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT02499211
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 820635
- Status last verified
- Mar 2021
- First submitted
- 30 Jun 2015
- Last updated
- 9 Mar 2021
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
Publications
Foster GD, Karpyn A, Wojtanowski AC, Davis E, Weiss S, Brensinger C, Tierney A, Guo W, Brown J, Spross C, Leuchten D, Burns PJ, Glanz K. Placement and promotion strategies to increase sales of healthier products in supermarkets in low-income, ethnically diverse neighborhoods: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2014 Jun;99(6):1359-68. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.113.075572. Epub 2014 Apr 2.
PubMed 24695894
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 9 Mar 2021. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- The Impact of Healthy Food Marketing Strategies in Supermarkets
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT02499211
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 820635
- Conditions
- Obesity
- Keywords
- obesity, health disparities, healthy food marketing, food environments, marketing environments, food access, food purchase decision making
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 33 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- University of PennsylvaniaUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- University of Delaware
- Study start
- 19 Sep 2014 (actual)
- Primary completion
- May 2019 (actual)
- Study completion
- Dec 2019 (actual)
- First posted
- 16 Jul 2015 (estimated)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Using a cluster randomized controlled design, this study will evaluate effects of in-store healthy food marketing strategies on sales and purchase of specific healthier items in six product categories (milk, frozen entrees, beverage checkout coolers, salty snacks, bread and cheese); and examine the effects of changes in in-store food marketing environments on sales of healthier foods. If these strategies are found to be effective, they could be used widely to encourage healthy retail sales, complement food access initiatives, and reduce health disparities in obesity and other diseases. Supermarkets will be the unit of randomization, intervention, and analysis.
Detailed description
As the prevalence of obesity has increased, public health experts have increasingly focused on the environments that shape overeating and unhealthy food choices. Retail grocery stores are pivotally positioned to influence choices and favorably affect energy balance. Greater availability of healthier foods, if translated to health-promoting purchases, can positively affect diet quality among those at greatest risk for obesity- low-income, ethnic minorities.
The aims of the proposed study are:
- To evaluate, in a cluster randomized controlled trial design, effects of in-store healthy food marketing strategies on sales and purchase of healthier items in six product categories (milk, frozen entrees, beverage checkout coolers, bread, salty snacks and cheese); and
- To evaluate the association of changes in supermarket food marketing environments with changes in sales of specific healthier food items in the same six product categories; and
- To examine the relationships between neighborhood characteristics and changes in sales and purchases of healthier items in the six product categories.
Investigators hypothesize that sales of targeted products will be significantly higher, and that more health-focused food marketing environments will be associated with higher sales of healthy food items.
The study will be conducted in 32 supermarkets in urban, low-income, high-minority neighbor-hoods in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. Intervention strategies will include prime placement, increased visibility of healthier products, call-out signs, and taste-testing for milk. Control stores will be assessment-only. Supermarket chains will help implement the strategies and provide data on sales of targeted products. Interventions will be conducted for 2 years, with an emphasis on scalability and long-term sustainability. The primary outcome measures of purchasing will be weekly sales per store for each product. Individual purchasing will be assessed in a cohort of shoppers by interviews and shopping receipts. The Grocery Marketing Environment Assessment (GMEA) tool will be used to assess marketing environments.
The research team completed a randomized pilot study of a 6-month intervention in eight supermarkets, which demonstrated the impact of the interventions on three food categories. The proposed study will provide an expanded and extended, larger-scale, rigorous test of novel and widely applicable strategies to encourage healthy retail sales, complement increased-access initiatives, and reduce health disparities in obesity and related diseases.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Intervention stores | Experimental | Other: Intervention storesSupermarkets will be the unit of randomization, intervention, and analysis. During randomization, stores are paired by size and percent sales of Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding. The intervention will last for 2 years, and will consist of in-store marketing of healthier (lower calorie) products through placement and promotion strategies in 6 food and beverage categories: milk; frozen meals; beverages in checkout coolers; bread; salty snacks; and cheese. |
| Non-intervention stores | No intervention | –No intervention administered. Supermarkets will be the unit of randomization, intervention, and analysis. During randomization, stores are paired by size and percent sales of WIC and SNAP funding. The non-intervention stores will not receive an intervention. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (4 listed)
- 18 years of age or older
- Do most of your food shopping at the store where they are recruited
- Speak English
- Be the main household shopper
Key exclusion criteria (2 listed)
- No exclusion criteria defined
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Intervention storesIn-store marketing strategies will focus on placement and promotion of healthier items (lower calorie options) in the milk, frozen food, beverage checkout cooler, bread, salty snacks, and cheese sections of the store. Intervention efforts in the dairy section promote lower calorie milk (skim, 1%, and 2%), while diminishing the presence of whole milk. The visual order of the milk displays will be changed, and the number of facings, or the fronts of packages the consumer can see, of whole milk will be decreased by 30% while increasing the facings of the lower calorie milk. In the other product categories, target products will be moved to eye level and the number of facings will be increased. Call-out signs will be placed by the target products that list the name and price of the product. No health information or claims will be included. Signage will be rotated monthly to increase the chances that customers will notice them. | Other | Intervention stores |
Primary outcome
Weekly sales data by units sold
Time frame: up to 36 months
Store IT managers will provide weekly sales data for the targeted products. The data will include units sold of all targeted products (higher calorie versions and lower-calorie alternatives).
1 secondary outcome
Marketing environment in the grocery stores using GMEA
Time frame: Baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, 15 months, 18 months, 21 months, 24 months
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 9 Mar 2021.
- Background: PubMed 24695894Foster GD, Karpyn A, Wojtanowski AC, Davis E, Weiss S, Brensinger C, Tierney A, Guo W, Brown J, Spross C, Leuchten D, Burns PJ, Glanz K. Placement and promotion strategies to increase sales of healthier products in supermarkets in low-income, ethnically diverse neighborhoods: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2014 Jun;99(6):1359-68. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.113.075572. Epub 2014 Apr 2.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Karen Glanz, PhD, MPH principal investigator
University of Pennsylvania
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Intervention stores in people with Obesity, run by University of Pennsylvania at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 9 Mar 2021. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Weekly sales data by units sold (time frame: up to 36 months). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT02499211, which also lists 1 linked publication.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 9 Mar 2021.