{
  "abstract": "Background Price-based incentives are frequent in the out-of-home (OOH) food sector and are often applied to less healthy foods. Therefore, policies restricting price-based incentives in the OOH food sector could influence food-related behaviours and improve population diet. In the present study we assessed the impact of removing different types of price-based incentives on consumer food selection through a virtual OOH delivery platform. Differences in effect according to participant characteristics were explored.Methods Participants (N=1926) were recruited through an online research platform, Prolific to take part in a study of food ordering. Recruitment took place between June and October 2024 between 4 pm and 8 pm (i.e. the approximate time of an evening meal). Participants ordered a hypothetical meal for their household from a virtual food delivery platform created by researchers, which presented the menu of a popular UK pizza chain restaurant/takeaway outlet. Participants were randomly allocated to one of 5 conditions: control (all price-based incentives present), price reductions removed (e.g., 25% off when you spend £10), value pricing removed (product size increase for a disproportionately small price increase), bulk-buy reductions removed (meal deals at discounted prices), and all price-based incentives removed. We examined the impact of condition on hypothetical food purchases (energy selected (kcal) and money spent) using one-way between subjects ANCOVA’s, and interactions with participant characteristics were explored in a second step of the analysis.Results The sample was largely representative of the UK population in terms of gender (51% women) and ethnicity (74% White British). Participants selected a mean 3864 kcal for their household, with a mean value of £38.18. Kcal selected tended to be lower in the all price-based incentives removed condition compared to the control condition (-7%) and other conditions (average -8%). However, only the difference between all price-based incentives removed and the value pricing removed conditions reached pre-specified statistical significance (-364 kcal; p<.0125; d=0.21). There was no evidence that effects of removing price-based incentives differed by participant characteristics.Conclusion The present study suggests that removal of individual price-based incentives may have minimal impact on energy selection. Removing all forms of price-based incentives may be needed to decrease energy selected in the OOH food sector. A key limitation of this work is that food choices were hypothetical, and therefore effects of removing price-based incentives on energy selected may be underestimated. Replication of findings in real-world settings is now required.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Amy Finlay"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Psychology, John Moores University, Liverpool, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Andrew Jones"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Public Health and Policy, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Martin O’Flaherty"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Public Health and Policy, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Zoe Colombet"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Nick Townsend"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK"
      ],
      "name": "James Garbutt"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Rebecca Evans"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Zoi Toumpakari"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Eric Robinson"
    }
  ],
  "title": "P03 Out-of-home food selection behaviour in the presence and absence of price-based incentives in a virtual food delivery app: a randomised controlled trial",
  "uid": "16443926-a890-51f7-bcd4-896aedb498fd"
}