Visual Attention to Text and Pictorial Food Labels: An Eye Tracking Experiment

• Sponsor: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (Other)
• Overall Status: Not yet recruiting
• CT.gov ID: NCT05958888
• Collaborator: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) (NIH)
• Enrollment: 60
• Location: 1
• Arm: 1
• Anticipated Duration (Months): 3
• Patients Per Site Per Month: 19.9

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

The goal of this study is to examine attention elicited by icon, text-only, and control front-of-package food labels. The study also aims to explore whether English language proficiency moderates the impact of icon vs. text-only labels on attention.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Health Behavior	Behavioral: Text only sodium label; Behavioral: Icon sodium label; Behavioral: Pictorial sodium label; Behavioral: Barcode label	N/A

Detailed Description

In this study, participants will attend one in-person visit, lasting approximately 15 minutes after signing informed consent. First participants will complete an eye tracking task where their attention to study stimuli is measured objectively via an eye tracker (i.e., eye tracking task). The eye tracking task will take ~5 minutes. Then, participants will complete a brief ~10 minute self-administered survey on a computer.

Study Design

• Study Type: Interventional
• Anticipated Enrollment: 60 participants
• Allocation: N/A
• Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
• Intervention Model Description: All participants will see the same 4 labels (3 sodium labels [text only, text + icon, and text + pictorial] and a control bar code label) in a random order.All participants will see the same 4 labels (3 sodium labels [text only, text + icon, and text + pictorial] and a control bar code label) in a random order.
• Masking: None (Open Label)
• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Official Title: Visual Attention to Text and Pictorial Food Labels: An Eye Tracking Experiment
• Anticipated Study Start Date: Jul 1, 2023
• Anticipated Primary Completion Date: Oct 1, 2023
• Anticipated Study Completion Date: Oct 1, 2023

Arms and Interventions

Arm

Intervention/Treatment

Experimental: Front of package food label 4 labels (3 sodium labels, 1 control barcode label) are shown on an image of a soup can

Behavioral: Text only sodium label; "Warning: High in sodium." is shown in a black square label on the can of soup.; Behavioral: Icon sodium label; "Warning: High in sodium." is shown beneath a yellow triangle icon with an exclamation mark all in a black square label on the can of soup.; Behavioral: Pictorial sodium label; "Warning: High in sodium." is shown beneath an image of a spilled salt shaker, all in a black square label on the can of soup.; Behavioral: Barcode label; Barcode is shown in white square label on the can of soup

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

1. Amount of time spent looking at the front-of-package sodium label (i.e., dwell time) [During ~5-minute eye tracking task, as part of a one-time study visit lasting ~15 minutes]

   This outcome will be measured using eye tracking technology.

Secondary Outcome Measures

1. Number of times looking at the front-of-package sodium label (i.e., fixation count) [During ~5-minute eye tracking task, as part of a one-time study visit lasting ~15 minutes]

   This outcome will be measured using eye tracking technology.

2. Time to first fixation on the front-of-package sodium label [During ~5-minute eye tracking task, as part of a one-time study visit lasting ~15 minutes]

   This outcome will be measured using eye tracking technology.

3. Dwell time on "natural" claim [During ~5-minute eye tracking task, as part of a one-time study visit lasting ~15 minutes]

   This outcome will be measured using eye tracking technology.

4. Self-reported attention to the front-of-package sodium label [During ~10 minute online survey, as part of one-time study visit lasting ~15 minutes]

   Assessed with 1 item for each label type. Response options will range from 1 to 5. Higher scores indicate more attention.

5. Perceived message effectiveness of the front-of-package sodium label [During ~10 minute online survey, as part of one-time study visit lasting ~15 minutes]

   Assessed with 3 items for each label type. Response options will range from 1 to 5. Higher scores indicate greater perceived message effectiveness.

6. Understandability of front-of-package sodium label [During ~10 minute online survey, as part of one-time study visit lasting ~15 minutes]

   1 item for each label type. Response options will range from 1 to 5. Higher scores indicate more understandability.

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 Years to 99 Years
• Sexes Eligible for Study: All
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult aged 18 or older

• Self-identifies as Hispanic or Latino

Exclusion Criteria:

• Less than 18 years old

• Does not identify as Hispanic or Latino

• Has one of the following conditions: (Wears bifocals, glaucoma, permanently dilated pupils, eye implants [artificial lenses, not contact lenses], less than 2 eyes, or blindness)

Contacts and Locations

Locations

	Site	City	State	Country	Postal Code
1	University of North Carolina Chapel Hill	Chapel Hill	North Carolina	United States	27599

Sponsors and Collaborators

• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Investigators

• Principal Investigator: Marissa Hall, PhD, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

None provided.

• Responsible Party: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05958888
• Other Study ID Numbers: 23-0659; K01HL147713
• First Posted: Jul 25, 2023
• Last Update Posted: Jul 25, 2023
• Last Verified: Jul 1, 2023

• Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement: Yes
• Plan to Share IPD: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product: No

Study Results

No Results Posted as of Jul 25, 2023