Impacts of Alcohol Warning Labels: An Online Experiment

Alcohol Drinking Clinical Trial

Official title:

Online Randomized Experiment Evaluating the Perceived Effectiveness of Alcohol Warning Labels

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Not yet recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT06442800
• Other study ID #: 23-1218
• Secondary ID: 1R01AA030548-01
• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: June 2024
• Est. completion date: July 2024

Study information

• Verified date: May 2024
• Source: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Contact: Marissa Hall, PhD
• Phone: 919-966-0233
• Email: mghall[@]unc.edu
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The goal of this experiment is to examine responses to alcohol warning messages about 10 different topics among US adult alcohol consumers. The main questions this experiment aims to answer are:

Which warning topics make alcohol consumers in the US want to drink less alcohol? Which warning topics remind alcohol consumers in the US of alcohol's harms? Which warning topics help alcohol consumers in the US learn something new? There will be a total of 20 alcohol messages, 2 messages for each of the 10 topics. For each topic, participants will be randomly assigned to 1 of the 2 messages so that they view a total of 10 alcohol messages. All 10 messages will be shown in random order. Participants will rate each message on how much it makes them want to drink less alcohol, reminds them that drinking can be harmful, and teaches them something new.

Description:

This study aims to determine which topics in alcohol warning labels are most effective at making US adults who consume alcohol want to drink less alcohol, which topics best remind consumers of alcohol's harms, and which topics are most likely to teach consumers something new. The survey research company NORC at the University of Chicago will recruit a sample of 1,000 US adults ages 21+ who consumed alcohol at least one time per week during the past 4 weeks.

Participants will complete a within-subjects online randomized experiment in which they view and rate messages shown on alcohol containers. Participants will rate each message on perceived message effectiveness (primary outcome), reminding of alcohol's harms (secondary outcome), and learning something new (secondary outcome). These tasks will be repeated for 10 messages, each with a different topic. There will be 9 warning topics (i.e., topics about alcohol's harms) and 1 control topic (i.e., neutral topic not about alcohol's harms). In this within-subjects experiment, the survey will present the topics in random order and participants will view 1 of 2 messages for each topic.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Enrollment: 1000
• Est. completion date: July 2024
• Est. primary completion date: July 2024
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 21 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 21 and older

• Reside in the United States

• Able to complete a survey in English

• Consumed alcohol at least once per week during the past 4 weeks

Exclusion Criteria:

• Under the age of 21

• Reside outside of the United States

• Unable to complete a survey in English

• Consumed alcohol less than once per week during the past 4 weeks

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Alcohol Drinking

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Liver Cancer
Participants will view messages about the risk of liver cancer from alcohol consumption.
• Throat and Mouth Cancer
Participants will view messages about the risk of throat and mouth cancer from alcohol consumption.
• Colorectal Cancer
Participants will view messages about the risk of colorectal cancer from alcohol consumption.
• Multiple Cancers
Participants will view messages about the risk of multiple cancers from alcohol consumption.
• Liver Disease
Participants will view messages about the risk of liver disease from alcohol consumption.
• Hypertension
Participants will view messages about the risk of hypertension from alcohol consumption.
• Dementia
Participants will view messages about the risk of dementia from alcohol consumption.
• Drinking Guidelines
Participants will view messages about guidelines for alcohol consumption.
• Current Warning
Participants will view the current warning that is required on most alcoholic beverage containers sold in the US.
• Control
Participants will view neutral messages unrelated to the harms of alcohol consumption.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	University of North Carolina	Chapel Hill	North Carolina

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill	National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Perceived message effectiveness	The study will assess perceived message effectiveness using 1 item: "How much does this message make you want to drink less alcohol?" Response options will range from "not at all" (coded as 1) to "a great deal" (coded as 5). Higher scores indicate more perceived message effectiveness.	Assessed during one-time 15-minute online study survey
Secondary	Reminding of alcohol's harms	The study will assess reminding of alcohol's harms using 1 item: "How much does this message remind you that drinking alcohol can be harmful?" Response options will range from not at all (1) to a great deal (5). Higher scores indicate greater reminding of alcohol's harms.	Assessed during one-time 15-minute online study survey
Secondary	Learning something new	The study will assess learning something new with 1 item: "Did you learn something new from this message?" Response options will be yes (1) and no (0).	Assessed during one-time 15-minute online study survey