The effect of different pricing and nudging strategies on food purchasing behaviour in a virtual supermarket setting

This study will investigate the influence of different pricing and nudging strategies on food purchasing behaviour in a virtual supermarket setting. Participants of both low and high socio-economic status will do their grocery shopping five times, during five weeks, in a virtual supermarket setting. Key strengths of the Virtual Supermarket are that it can be used to test several intervention strategies in a highly controlled experimentally design without a complex implementation process. Participants will be randomly allocated to a tax on unhealthy products arm, a subsidy on healthy products arm or a taxing and subsidy arm. Within each arm, there are five conditions including a baseline condition, a nudging condition, a pricing condition, a salience pricing condition, and a salience pricing with nudging condition. Before each condition, a questionnaire is filled in regarding price perception and sensitivity, impulsivity, decision making, food choices and appreciation of the virtual supermarket.

This study will investigate the effect of different price and nudging strategies on food purchasing behaviour in a virtual supermarket setting among Dutch adults with both a low and high socio-economic status.

Our hypothesis is that pricing strategies (i.e. subsidies and taxes) will positively influence food purchasing behaviour of both healthy and unhealthy foods, and that this effect is stronger in adults with a low socio-economic status compared to adults with a high socio-ecnomic status.

The results will be analysed after the fifth shop in the virtual supermarket. Purchases done in the virtual supermarket are stored and analysed.

The intervention will include three arms and five conditions. The arms include a subsidy arm, a tax arm and a subsidy with a tax arm. The five conditions include a baseline shop, a nudging condition, a pricing strategy condition, an announced pricing strategy condition, and a combination condition (i.e. announced price changes and nudges). Participants will receive the task to do their weekly shops in the virtual supermarkt throughout five weeks. Participants will do the shopping in the comfort of their own home. Before or after each shop participants will fill in a questionnaire regarding their price perceptions, impulse control, food choice behaviour and appreciation of the virtual supermarket.