Nudging Nutrition With Monetary Incentives Environmental Cues

Nudging Nutrition: Evaluating the Impact of Monetary Incentives and Environmental Cues on Food Choices

The investigators hypothesize that monetary incentives and messaging, such as making nutritious foods relatively less expensive than less nutritious foods and framing the price difference in a positive or negative way, will influence purchasing behavior of households.

In this study, 239 loyalty card shoppers were recruited at Hannaford grocery stores to participate in a study in which a 10% price difference between nutritious and less nutritious foods was introduced. and then framed as a subsidy, tax, or a combination of a tax and subsidy. To determine whether or not the framing of the price difference influenced purchasing behavior, the difference was framed as a subsidy on nutritious foods, a tax on less nutritious foods, and a combination of a tax and subsidy on less nutritious and nutritious foods, respectively. The purpose of this study was to examine the general impact of this price difference on purchases of nutritious and less nutritious foods, and whether or not the framing of the price difference had a differential effect on behavior.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Loyalty card shoppers at Hannaford grocery stores

Exclusion Criteria:

• No children in household
• Less than 75% of food purchases made at Hannaford grocery stores