Nutrition Facts Label Campaign Focus Groups (Formative Research and Stimulus Testing)

Appendix II

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Nutrition Facts Label Education Focus Groups: Concept Testing Phase

Moderator’s Guide

Group No.	Location	Level of Education	Order of Concepts
Group 1	Mid Atlantic (Local)	Lower	1, 2, 3
Group 2	Mid Atlantic (Local)	Higher	2, 3, 1
Group 3	Mid-West	Lower	3, 1, 2
Group 4	Mid-West	Higher	1, 3, 2
Group 5	West Coast	Lower	2, 1, 3
Group 6	West Coast	Higher	3, 2, 1

Concept Names:

• Concept 1: Designed to make a difference

• Concept 2: Could it be your new best friend?

• Concept 3: It’s what’s inside that counts

Purpose of stimuli in this concept testing phase:

Catch consumers’ attention

• increase awareness of the new NFL

  • encourage consumers to use the new NFL more often

  • encourage consumers to visit FDA website to learn more about the NFL

Introduction (2 minutes)

Thanks for joining us today. I’m _____, and I’m from RTI International. We’re a non-profit research organization based in North Carolina. We are conducting these discussions on behalf of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (also known as FDA). We are holding discussions around the country about how to best raise people’s awareness about the new Nutrition Facts label. The Nutrition Facts label is a table with nutrition information typically found on the side or back of a food package. This is what the new label looks like, compared to what it was before. [SHOW HANDOUT OF TWO LABELS.] Some products are using the new label already. Your opinions are very important to us and your time today is appreciated. We will have about 90 minutes for our discussion.

Before we begin, I want to review a few ground rules for our discussion.

• As mentioned on the consent form, we are audio and video recording this conversation so that I can give you my full attention and not have to take a lot of notes. In addition, I have a colleague behind the one way mirror listening to our conversation to take notes so that your opinions are accurately captured. Some project staff who are unable to attend in person may watch the discussions either from the video recording or in real time as we stream our discussion through a password-protected site. When writing up our findings, we will not include any information that could identify you. Your name, address, and phone number will not be given to anyone, and no one will contact you about this discussion after this group is over.

• Everyone’s participation is important; we want to hear from everybody.

• It is OK to disagree.

• Please speak up (speak loudly).

• Please speak one at the time so we can hear all the responses – no side conversations.

• We ask that you only use first names when addressing others or referring to yourself or others in your life. Also, we ask that you respect each other’s privacy and do not share what is said in the group once it is over.

• Please turn off your cell phones or anything else that may make it difficult to concentrate.

• If at any point you feel uncomfortable with my questions, simply let me know that you prefer not to answer.

• Your participation is voluntary. You can leave at any point in the discussion. There’s no penalty to you for doing so.

• There are no right or wrong answers in today’s discussion. We want to know your honest opinions and experiences.

• Do you have any questions before we begin?

Warm-Up (5-8 min)

Thanks again for being here.

• To start, let’s go around the room and say your first name and what you had for dinner last night.

• Everyone here is a main decision-maker in their household when it comes to buying food. All of you have also used the Nutrition Facts label before.

  • Tell me a little bit more about why you use the Nutrition Facts label.

  • What kind of information on the label do you typically look for?

Concept Testing (60 minutes; 15-20 minutes per concept/theme)

Let’s get started. We are going to ask you for your reactions to three concepts, or rough ideas that could be used in educational videos, public service announcements, or ads on social media. These concepts are not intended to answer all of the questions you might have about the new Nutrition Facts label. They are designed to simply catch your attention and raise your interest in learning more about the new Nutrition Facts label.

You will view examples of what each concept looks like in a storyboard. A storyboard is a sequence of sketches that represent the shots or ‘scenes’ planned for a video – it shows the way we would bring the concept to life in a video format. If the FDA moves forward with these concepts, the sketches would be replaced by real people in an actual video or print ad. In other words, this would not be produced as an animated cartoon – it is only sketched out as an illustration for the purposes of review and testing. You will also view examples of what each concept might look like as a ‘static’ ad, or what you might see printed in a magazine or on a bus stand.

First, I’m going to show you all three concepts in one go, one after the other. Then we will replay each concept one at a time and we will discuss each of them on their own. During the videos, please keep your initial reactions to yourself and then we’ll discuss and share reactions as a group shortly afterwards.

Here are all three concepts together. [MODERATOR: PLAY ALL 3 VIDEOS TO GIVE PARTICIPANTS AN IDEA OF WHAT THESE STORYBOARDS LOOK LIKE]

[MODERATOR: ROTATE ORDER OF CONCEPTS PER TABLE]

Now, I’m going to replay the [INSERT NAME] and then we will discuss it together. Here is a handout of the concept. As we view it again, feel free to mark up your handouts: CIRCLE words, phrases, or images you like; CROSS OUT words, phrases, or images you don’t like; add QUESTION MARKS on things you find confusing. You are also welcome to write other comments on these handouts. I’ll post these instructions up on the wall for you to refer to as you’re marking up your handouts.

[MODERATOR 1) PASSES OUT FIRST CONCEPT STORYBOARD, AND PENCILS/PENS, 2) POSTS INSTRUCTIONS FOR MARKING HANDOUTS AND 3) REPLAYS THE FIRST CONCEPT STORYBOARD ANIMATIC.]

[AFTER REPLAYING CONCEPT MODERATOR SAYS:]

Take a minute to markup your concept, circling parts you like and crossing out parts you don’t like.

Now before we hear from everyone, I’d like you to each give an OVERALL GRADE (A, B, C, D, F—like in school) to this concept. Just write it in the top right corner of the page. We will discuss the grades in a few minutes but first I’d like to hear….

[MODERATOR – BEGIN QUESTIONS BELOW FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL CONCEPT. NOTE - WHEN ASKING PARTICIPANTS TO GRADE THE SECOND CONCEPT THEY SEE, SAY…]

Grade this concept on its own and not in comparison to the other concept we saw. For example, you may wish to give the same grade to all three concepts we see today. Or you may wish to give them all three different grades. Either is fine.

1. Concept 1: Designed to make a difference

1. What was your immediate reaction to this concept?

• PROBE: What do you like about this concept?

• PROBE: What do you not like about this concept?

• PROBE: Is there anything that is not understandable? Is there anything unclear or confusing? Is there anything that you would like more information on?

• PROBE: How humorous/funny do you find this concept?

1. Would this catch your attention if you came across this outside of this group?

   • If so, what about it catches your attention?

   • How interested would you be in seeing this concept developed into a full video?

2. How do you feel about the phrase, “Designed to make a difference”?

   • PROBE: What does the phrase mean to you?

3. How does this concept relate to you, if at all? Tell me more about that.

• If not relevant [at all], how can this be changed to be [more] relevant to you?

5. What grade did you give this concept (A, B, C, D, F)? [MODERATOR – ASK FOR A SHOW OF HANDS FOR EACH GRADE AND DOCUMENT FOR THE RECORDING] Why?

6. What might you do after seeing this?

   • [If they mention visiting the website ask] What kind of information would you expect to find on the website?

   • [If they mention it drives them to look at the label] What about this concept encourages you to look at the new label?

7. Is there anything else we didn’t discuss that you would like to share?

8. [PASS OUT BUS SHELTER HANDOUT] Now I’m going to show you the static ad, like if you saw it printed in a magazine or on a bus stand. Think about if you saw this ad by itself, without having seen the video ad.

   • How much would this ad catch your attention?

   • What might you do after seeing this ad?

2. Concept 2: Could it be your new best friend?

1. What was your immediate reaction to this concept?

• PROBE: What do you like about this concept?

• PROBE: What do you not like about this concept?

• PROBE: Is there anything that is not understandable? Is there anything unclear or confusing? Is there anything that you would like more information on?

• PROBE: How humorous/funny do you find this concept?

2. Would this catch your attention if you came across this outside of this group?

• If so, what about it catches your attention?

• How interested would you be in seeing this concept developed into a full video?

3. How do you feel about the phrase, “Could it be your new best friend?”?

• PROBE: What does the phrase mean to you?

4. How does this concept relate to you, if at all? Tell me more about that.

• If not relevant [at all], how can this be changed to be [more] relevant to you?

5. What grade did you give this concept (A, B, C, D, F)? [MODERATOR – ASK FOR A SHOW OF HANDS FOR EACH GRADE AND DOCUMENT FOR THE RECORDING] Why?

6. What might you do after seeing this?

• [If they mention visiting the website ask] What kind of information would you expect to find on the website?

• [If they mention it drives them to look at the label] What about this concept encourages you to look at the new label?

7. Is there anything else we didn’t discuss that you would like to share?

8. [PASS OUT BUS SHELTER HANDOUT] Now I’m going to show you the static ad, like if you saw it printed in a magazine or on a bus stand. Think about if you saw this ad by itself, without having seen the video ad.

• How much would this ad catch your attention?

• What might you do after seeing this ad?

3. Concept 3: It’s what’s inside that counts

1. What was your immediate reaction to this concept?

• PROBE: What do you like about this concept?

• PROBE: What do you not like about this concept?

• PROBE: Is there anything that is not understandable? Is there anything unclear or confusing? Is there anything that you would like more information on?

• PROBE: How humorous/funny do you find this concept?

2. Would this catch your attention if you came across this outside of this group?

• If so, what about it catches your attention?

• How interested would you be in seeing this concept developed into a full video?

3. How do you feel about the phrase, “It’s what’s inside that counts”?

• PROBE: What does the phrase mean to you?

4. How does this concept relate to you, if at all? Tell me more about that.

• If not relevant [at all], how can this be changed to be [more] relevant to you?

5. What grade did you give this concept (A, B, C, D, F)? [MODERATOR – ASK FOR A SHOW OF HANDS FOR EACH GRADE AND DOCUMENT FOR THE RECORDING] Why?

6. What might you do after seeing this?

• [If they mention visiting the website ask] What kind of information would you expect to find on the website?

• [If they mention it drives them to look at the label] What about this concept encourages you to look at the new label?

7. Is there anything else we didn’t discuss that you would like to share?

8. [PASS OUT BUS SHELTER HANDOUT] Now I’m going to show you the static ad, like if you saw it printed in a magazine or on a bus stand. Think about if you saw this ad by itself, without having seen the video ad.

• How much would this ad catch your attention?

• What might you do after seeing this ad?

Comparison Ranking of All Concepts (10 mins)

[After feedback is received on all concepts, MODERATOR askS:]

4. Now, I want you to look at the three concept storyboards together. I’m going to ask you to rank them in order of how useful they are. Using the categories in the top right corner of each concept under where you gave the ad an overall grade, first rank the ads in order of how useful the ad would be at encouraging you to use to the Nutrition Facts label more often (under “U.R. 1”). Label them 1, 2, or 3 with 1 being the most useful and being on the top of the pile followed by the next useful, etc. Then, rank the ads in order of how useful they would be to motivate you to go to the website (under “U.R. 2”). Again, label them 1, 2, or 3 with 1 being the most useful and being on the top of the pile followed by the next useful, etc. Then we are going to go around the room and have everyone share their order and why they picked it. [If the participants want to identify a combination of two concepts as being most motivating/salient, that’s fine]

5. Which of these concepts, if any, would encourage/motivate you to look at and use the Nutrition Facts label more often?

   1. [If not already asked/answered] Why? What is it about this one/these concepts that prompts you to look at the label?

   2. [If answer is ‘none’] Why didn’t any of these concepts prompt you to look at the label? Could anything be added in to encourage you to look at the label?

6. Which of these concepts, if any, would encourage/motivate you go to the FDA website to learn more about the new Nutrition Facts label?

   1. Why? What is it about this one/these concepts that prompts you?

   2. If none, why not?

   3. What could be added that would drive you to FDA’s website?

   4. [If not already asked/answered] What kind of information would you expect to find on the website?

7. Sometimes we find that some of the best ideas come from focus groups like this. Can you think of any ideas on what might catch people’s attention and prompt them to learn more information on the new Nutrition Facts label?

8. Is there anything else you would like us to talk about that we haven’t yet discussed?

False Close (5 minutes)

That’s all the questions I have. I am going to check in with my colleagues to see if I missed anything. I’ll be right back.

[Moderator: go to back room to see if there are any new questions.]

Close (2 minutes)

Do you have any questions for me or any additional feedback that you’d like to provide?

Thank you very much for your time today. Your feedback is very much appreciated.

[Moderator: Stop recording. Administer incentives and obtain receipts.]

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