Energy Labelling for Alcohol Drinks in New Zealand: Consumers Perceptions and Impacts on Purchase Behaviour

Drinking, Alcohol Clinical Trial

Official title:

Energy Labelling for Alcohol Drinks in New Zealand: Consumers Perceptions and Impacts on Purchase Behaviour

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03553043
• Other study ID #: NI373821
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: May 14, 2018
• Est. completion date: September 23, 2018

Study information

• Verified date: August 2021
• Source: University of Auckland, New Zealand
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

A two-stage qualitative and quantitative study to provide insight into consumers' awareness of energy in alcoholic beverages, and how energy labelling effects consumer behaviour.

Description:

Rationale: In 2016/2017, one in five (19.5%) New Zealand adults (≥15 years and older) had an alcohol drinking pattern that carriers a risk of harming the drinker or another, and one in three (32.9%) young adults aged 18 to 24 years are hazardous drinkers. To reduce alcohol-related harm and help New Zealanders make positive decisions about their alcohol use, strategies are needed that not only inform them about health risks but also alter the environment they find themselves in on a daily basis. Unlike most packaged food products, alcoholic beverages are not required to present a statement of the composition of the product, such as amount of alcohol, energy or the nutrient content. It has been suggested that in the absence of this information, consumers of alcohol have no idea how much energy, alcohol or kilojoules they are consuming. Research indicates that nutrition labelling of food and non-alcoholic beverage products does impact consumer perceptions and product evaluations. A recent poll by Stuff showed that 83% of 3,300 New Zealanders indicated that they want to know what they are consuming and supported placement of ingredients and nutritional information on alcohol products.

Objectives: To provide insight into consumers' awareness of energy in alcoholic beverages, and in their views on energy labelling of alcoholic beverages. The project also aims to explore the effects of different types of energy labelling on consumers alcohol purchase behaviour.

Design: Two-staged qualitative and quantitative study.

• Qualitative stage: Focus groups.

• Quantitative stage: Four-arm randomised controlled trial. This qualitative stage aims to test the effects of three different types of alcohol energy labels on alcoholic beverages on (online) purchase behaviour, compared to a control (no label) condition, using an 'online shopping cart'.

Recruitment: Panel.

Sample size: Qualitative stage: n=36 (six focus groups with six people per group); Quantitative stage: n=600 (n=150 participants per experimental condition).

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 615
• Est. completion date: September 23, 2018
• Est. primary completion date: September 23, 2018
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• are =18 years of age;

• having purchased and consumed at least one alcoholic beverage in the past month;

• be able to read English;

• reside in New Zealand;

• be a member of the online panel of "Research Now Survey Sampling International".

Exclusion Criteria:

• Participants not meeting the eligibility criteria will be excluded.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Alcohol Drinking
• Consumption, Alcohol
• Drinking, Alcohol

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Intervention
Energy label condition.
• Control
No label

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
New Zealand	National Institute for Health Innovation, University of Auckland	Auckland

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Auckland, New Zealand	Te Hiringa Hauora/Health Promotion Agency

Country where clinical trial is conducted

New Zealand, 

References & Publications (2)

Walker N, McCormack J, Jiang, Y, Lang B, Ni Murchu C. (2018). Energy labelling for alcoholic beverages in New Zealand: Clinical trial. Phase 2 report: Wellington: Health Promotion Agency.

Walker N, McCormack J, Jiang, Y, Lang B, Ni Murchu C. (2018). Energy labelling for alcoholic beverages in New Zealand: Consumer perceptions. Phase 1 report: Focus Groups. Wellington: Health Promotion Agency. ISBN:978-0-478-44956-3.

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Consumer online purchasing behaviour	Consumer online purchasing behaviour assessed on an 11-point Juster scale (where 1 = no chance/almost no chance and 11 = certain/practically certain	Measured immediately after randomization
Secondary	Purchase behaviour	Number of alcoholic beverage(s) bought in the online shopping cart	Measured immediately after randomization
Secondary	Perceived and estimated energy content of displayed product	Assessed using a seven-point scale ranging from "very low" to "very high" and the estimated energy content of the product	Measured at randomization
Secondary	Perceived confidence in estimating energy content of displayed product	assessed using a seven-point scale ranging from "not confident at all" to "very confident"	Measured immediately after randomization
Secondary	Intention to consume displayed product	Assessed using a seven-point scale ranging from "would decrease consumption level" to "would increase consumption level"	Measured immediately after randomization
Secondary	Attitudes towards displayed product	On a seven-point rating scale participants will be asked whether they believe the displayed alcoholic product was expensive/cheap, unattractive/attractive, low quality/high quality, unhealthy/healthy, and taste bad/good.	Measured immediately after randomization
Secondary	Support for displayed label	On a seven-point rating scale participants will be asked whether they would support the implementation of the displayed label	Measured at randomization
Secondary	Attitudes towards alcohol	Assessed using the Scale for Measurement of Attitudes Towards Alcohol, a tool used to i) assess people's risk profile regarding the use of alcohol and ii) identify the factors that contribute to determining their attitudes	Measured immediately after randomization

External Links

•   Report
•   Report