Cognitive Interview, Pretest, and Survey (Study 2)

Appendix I. Questionnaire for Study 2

Experimental Studies of Nutrition Symbols on Food Packages

Study 2

(DRAFT, November 2009)

Questionnaire

Form Approved: OMB No. 0910-XXXX

Expirate Date ____/__/_____

Study Introduction: Thank you for agreeing to participate. You will be asked to rate some common food products based on the front and back labels you might see on these products in the store. It usually takes people about 15 minutes to complete the study.

Please click the “NEXT” button to begin the study.

Each respondent is randomly assigned to one cell of a 4 X 11 X 2 (product category x nutrition labeling scheme x hard/easy choice) experimental design.

Each respondent is first shown first two package labels consistent with the assigned cell.

The two labels are shown side by side to enable easy comparison. Each label is for a recognizable food type with an appropriately descriptive name (e.g., chicken frozen dinner). Each label has a fanciful brand name with an appropriate food image. Each label should resemble a generic brand knock off of a familiar food product.

The pair of products seen are randomly assigned according to the following scheme. There are three products in each product category (A, B or C). A and B have clearly better nutrition profiles than C. The nutrition profile differences between A and B are small, but A is considered slightly better than B. Half the respondents are randomly assigned to an (A,B) pairing (hard) and half the respondents are randomly assigned to either a (A,C) or (B,C) pairing (easy).

Take a moment to look at these products because you will be asked some questions about them.

The elapsed time clock should begin when the two images are shown on the screen. The images should remain on the screen during the next set of questions.

A1. Based on what you can see on the labels, if you wanted to buy a healthy product for your family, which of these two products would you select?

Response categories: A, B, C or Can’t Tell.

Elapsed time is recorded

A2. Why did you decide to choose this product?

Open-ended response: ___________________________________

Now we want to ask you a few questions about the product you chose/one of the products (Wording depends on answer to A1). At any point during the next few questions, you may want to click on the button provided on the screen to see the Nutrition Facts of the product for more information.

The label of the product chosen in A1 is shown by itself, or if the respondent gave a “can’t tell” response to A1, the product with the better nutrition profile is shown.

On a scale of 1 to 7 where 1 is strongly disagree and 7 is strongly agree, now much do you agree with the following statements.

A3. I consider (product name) to be a healthy food.

A4. Regularly eating (product name) may contribute to my risk of gaining weight.

A5. Regularly eating ((product name) may contribute to my risk of coronary heart disease.

A6. Regularly eating ((product name) may contribute to my risk of high blood pressure.

A7. Regularly eating ((product name) may contribute to my risk of diabetes.

A8. Regularly eating (product name) will improve my overall diet.

A9. If I regularly ate ((product name) I would have to be careful about how much of it I ate.

Record any click to see nutrition facts panel during A3-A9. After A9 is answered reset the nutrition facts panel screen so that it is no longer available.

Now we want to ask you a few questions about the nutrient levels in the product you chose/one of the products (Wording depends on answer to A1). At any point during the next few questions you may want to click on the button provided on the screen to see the Nutrition Facts of the product for more information.

On a scale of 1 to 7 where 1 is low and 7 is high, I would rate the level of (specified nutrient) in (product name) as a __ ?

A10. Calories

A11. Sugar

A12. Fat

A13. Saturated Fat

A14. Sodium

A15. Cholesterol

A16. Fiber

A17. Calcium

Record any click to see nutrition facts panel during A10-A17.

Now we want you to look at a new pair of products and answer the same kinds of questions.

Each respondent will be shown a new pair of brand products constituted as follows; the product not chosen from the first pair paired with the remaining product from the category that was not included in the first pair. In this way, each respondent will see all three brand products from each category when making choices and will rate individually at least two of them. Essentially the same procedure is followed for the second pair as for the first. Since the constitution of the second pair is contingent on the selection made in the first pair, the hard/easy factor is not independently manipulated for the second choice.

Take a moment to look at this new pair of products.

The elapsed time clock should begin when the two images are shown on the screen. The images should remain on the screen during the next set of questions.

B1. Based on what you can see on the labels, if you wanted to buy a healthy product for your family, which of these two products would you select?

Response categories: A, B, C or Can’t Tell.

Elapsed time is recorded

B2. Why did you decide to choose this product?

Open-ended response: ___________________________________

Now we want to ask you a few questions about the product you chose/one of the products (Wording depends on answer to B1). At any point during the next few questions you may want to click on the button provided on the screen to see the Nutrition Facts of the product for more information.

The label of the product chosen in B1 is shown by itself, or if the respondent gave a “can’t tell” response to B1, the product with the better nutrition profile is shown.

On a scale of 1 to 7 where 1 is strongly disagree and 7 is strongly agree, now much do you agree with the following statements.

B3. I consider (product name) to be a healthy food.

B4. Regularly eating (product name) may contribute to my risk of gaining weight.

B5. Regularly eating ((product name) may contribute to my risk of coronary heart disease.

B6. Regularly eating ((product name) may contribute to my risk of high blood pressure.

B7. Regularly eating ((product name) may contribute to my risk of diabetes.

B8. Regularly eating (product name) will improve my overall diet.

B9. If I regularly ate ((product name) I would have to be careful about how much of it I ate.

Record any click to see nutrition facts panel during B3-B9. After B9 is answered reset the nutrition facts panel screen so that it is no longer available.

Now we want to ask you a few questions about the nutrient levels in the product you chose/one of the products (Wording depends on answer to B1). At any point during the next few questions you may want to click on the button provided on the screen to see the Nutrition Facts of the product for more information.

On a scale of 1 to 7 where 1 is low and 7 is high, I would rate the level of (specified nutrient) in (product name) as a __ ?

B10. Calories

B11. Sugar

B12. Fat

B13. Saturated Fat

B14. Sodium

B15. Cholesterol

B16. Fiber

B17. Calcium

Record any click to see nutrition facts panel during B10-B17.

Now that you have a chance to some products, we have a few questions about the labels that you just saw.

C1. Did you notice this information panel [show them an example of the FOP graphics they just saw. Image should stay on the screen for the C sequence of questions] on the product packages? YES/NO

If answer to C1 is “yes”, ask C2

C2. Did you find this information panel to be helpful when you selected and rated the different products? YES/NO

If answer to C2 is yes, ask C3

C3. When did you find it most helpful?

Open-ended response: ___________________________________

Open end responses to be coded thematically.

C4. Did you feel at any time when you were answering questions that you needed to know more about the products than you could find on the front of the package?

Yes/No

If answer to C4 is “yes”, ask C5

C5. What questions were those?

Open-ended response: ___________________________________

Open end responses to be coded thematically.

Thinking about the front of package information panel you just saw, how would you rate it on the following scales?

C6. Helpful/Not Helpful

C7. Easy to Use/Hard to Use

C8. Biased/Unbiased

C9. Trustworthy/Not Trustworthy

C10. Not too informative/Very Informative

On a scale of 1 to 7 where 1 is strongly disagree and 7 is strongly agree, how much do you agree with the following statements.

D1. I usually am interested in looking for nutritional information on food packages.

D2. I would like to see additional nutritional information on food packages.

D3. On a scale of 1 to 7 where 1 is almost nothing and 7 is a lot, compared to other people, how much do you feel you know about nutrition?

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An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.