CNPP MyPlate Focus Groups

OMB CONTROL NO.: 0584-0611 EXPIRATION DATE: 11/30/2025

Attachment D-1 Discussion Guide (English)

Target Time ≈ 90 minutes of discussion, plus respondents asked to log on 30 minutes before start time

I. Introduction & Warm-up [10 minutes]

1. Moderator introduction

   1. Remind respondents to be in a quiet place.

   2. If you need to step away, do so briefly and come back as soon as possible.

   3. Feedback is anonymous and confidential.

   4. Rules for participation online (all opinions count, no wrong answers, one at a time)

   5. Grab a few pieces of paper and a pen or pencil.

2. Introduction – Share your first name, where you live, with whom you live (people, pets, plants, etc.)

3. Warm-up – Take a moment and write down a word or phrase that describes what a typical weekday is like for you. Also, please write down a “go to” meal that you (and your family) have often.

1. [GO AROUND SCREEN] Tell me about the word/phrase you wrote down.

II. Nutrition and Grocery Habits [15 minutes]

1. Now, let’s talk about our routines when it comes to the foods and beverages we eat and drink. What did you write down as your “go to” meal?

   1. How much planning goes into meals on a typical day?

2. [KEEP BRIEF] Let’s think about one aspect of food: groceries. How often do you typically get groceries?

   1. Who do you get groceries for? Yourself? Others in the household?

   2. Where do you tend to get groceries? [LISTEN FOR: supermarkets, food banks, specialty or ethnic grocery stores, department stores (e.g., Target/Walmart), superstores (e.g., Costco, BJs), farmers markets, bodegas/convenience stores]

      1. Do you typically visit one location or many locations to get the groceries you need? What influences that decision?

      2. [IF YES:] What are those different locations?

      3. Has this always been your approach to getting groceries? [IF NO:] What’s changed?

   3. How much planning, if any at all, goes into your grocery trips?

      1. To what extent do you rely on coupons when getting groceries?

      2. What other hacks or tools do you use?

   4. How often do you typically get groceries online versus in person?

      1. What does it depend on?

      2. What do you prefer about getting groceries online?

      3. What are the downsides, if any?

   5. When your shopping is complete, and you look at your cart (in person or online) how does it make you feel? [LISTEN FOR AND PROBE ON: Financial concerns/limitations, the healthfulness of the selections]

3. What about when it comes to mealtimes – who is responsible in your household for figuring out what everyone is having for breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? Snacks?

   1. How often each week are you going out to eat, versus preparing food at home?

      1. What typically influences that decision?

   2. What, if any, resources do you lean on when preparing meals? [LISTEN FOR: family members, recipes, online sources of information?]

   3. What, if anything, is difficult about preparing meals?

4. Now, I want to talk specifically about healthy eating. When I say the phrase “healthy eating,” what are the words and phrases that come to mind? Type all of the words and phrases that come to mind in the chat box. [ALLOW UNAIDED RESPONSE VIA CHAT]

   1. What made you choose those words or phrases to describe healthy eating? [GO AROUND THE SCREEN]

   2. How much do you think you know about healthy eating? How do you know those things?

   3. When do you tend to think about healthy eating?

   4. When, if at all, is it something you think about in your meal planning?

   5. What are some things that make you think about healthy eating? [LISTEN FOR: health/doctor visits, information seen online, information from family members, things child has learned at school, family member having a food-related condition like diabetes, HBP, etc.]

5. Now a different question. On a scale of 1 to 5, where a 1 means it is very difficult, and a 5 means it is very easy, and you can use any number from 1 to 5, how easy or difficult is it to make sure that you are “eating healthy”? Type your answer into the chat box. [ALLOW RESPONSE VIA CHAT]

   1. [GO AROUND THE SCREEN] What made you choose that number?

   2. How much do you care about healthy eating right now? What makes you say that? Do you tend to care more/less now about healthy eating than you have before? What makes you say that? What caused the change?

1. What, if anything, is difficult for you about healthy eating? [LISTEN FOR: the COVID-19 pandemic, boring/unsatisfying/taste, lack of time/money, increase in cost/inflation, not sure what “counts” as healthy, what others in household will/will not eat]

6. [ONLY ASK FOR THOSE WITH LOVED ONES IN THEIR HOUSEHOLD] Let’s do the same exercise again, but this time, let’s think about your loved ones. On a scale of 1 to 5, where a 1 means it is very difficult, and a 5 means it is very easy, and you can use any number from 1 to 5, how easy or difficult is it to make sure that your loved ones are “eating healthy”? Same as before – type your answer into the chat box. [ALLOW RESPONSE VIA CHAT]

   1. [GO AROUND SCREEN] What made you choose that number?

   2. [IF NUMBER IS DIFFERENT FROM PREVIOUS EXERCISE] What makes it easier/harder to make sure your loved ones are eating healthy? [LISTEN FOR DIFFICULTIES: the COVID-19 pandemic, boring/unsatisfying/taste, lack of time/money, not sure what “counts” as healthy, what others in household will/will not eat]

   3. What would help you and your loved ones to eat healthier?

7. [KEEP BRIEF] What questions do you have about healthy eating?

   1. Where can you go to answer your questions about healthy eating?

   2. Realistically, where are you likely to go if you want answers to these types of questions?

      1. [PROBE: health care professionals, friends or family, online search, social media, specific websites]

      2. [NOTE: If mention social media, hold off on follow-ups until next section]

   3. What brands, companies, organizations, or individuals do you trust when it comes to giving advice about healthy eating or nutrition?

      1. What makes those feel trustworthy?

III. Social Media and Reasons to Eat Healthier [10 minutes]

1. How much, if at all, do you use social media to learn more about healthy eating or exercise, or to find hacks or tips on these topics?

   1. If you have used social media in this way in the past, what specifically do you use to do so (e.g., Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook)?

   2. What brands, companies, or influencers do you use to learn about these topics?

      1. What makes you want to follow these brands or influencers for these topics?

2. Take a moment and think about an example of something you’ve seen on social media about healthy eating. If you need to look on your phone as a reminder or to find an example, take a moment to do so.

   1. What did you find?

   2. What is the source?

   3. What do you think about what you found? [PROBE: helpfulness, frequency of using that source, what, if anything, will they do with the information]

3. Continuing on this topic, what are some reasons to eat healthier? Let’s make a list.

   1. [AS RESPONDENTS PROVIDE ANSWERS, TYPE THEM INTO THE CHAT]

   2. [READ ANSWERS ALOUD] We have a lot of different reasons here to eat healthier, so let’s narrow it down. What are your top two most compelling reasons to eat healthier? Type those into the chat. [ALLOW RESPONSE VIA CHAT]

      1. [PROBE ON WHAT IS UNIQUE ACROSS RESPONDENT ANSWERS]

4. When you think about your perspectives on reasons to eat healthier, is it something that has pretty much been the same or has it changed over time?

   1. [IF CHANGED:] What changed?

5. Before we go to another topic, I want to take a step back and ask a “bigger picture” question. So far, we have been talking about healthy eating, but when you think about everything in your life, where does healthy eating rank, compared to all the other priorities in your life? Is it at the top? Close to the top? In the middle? Towards the bottom? At the bottom?

   1. [IF NOT TOP PRIORITY:] What are the other priorities that rank a bit higher for you right now?

   2. [IF TOP PRIORITY:] What about healthy eating places it in the top spot for you?

IV. Creative Materials Review [40 minutes]

1. Next, I want to shift gears and talk about something called MyPlate. By a show of hands, who has heard of MyPlate? [GAUGE AWARENESS OF MYPLATE]

   1. What do you know about it? How would you describe it in your own words?

   2. Have any of you visited the MyPlate website? [TAKE HANDCOUNT, BUT DO NOT PROBE INTO WHAT INFORMATION THEY RECEIVED]

2. [SHARE MYPLATE LOGO ON SCREEN] Here is a picture of the MyPlate logo. Who here has seen this before? [TAKE HAND COUNT]

   1. Where have you heard about or seen MyPlate?

   2. What do you think the purpose of MyPlate is?

   3. Take a moment and type in the chat: who do you think MyPlate is for?

[Image displayed on the computer screen during the focus group for participants to read and discuss.]

3. [MODERATOR READ:] Just so we are on the same page, MyPlate is a visual reminder to make healthy choices from each of the five food groups. It comes from the US Department of Agriculture, or USDA.

I would like to share some materials on the screen with you regarding MyPlate. Please note that these are not finished materials. They were just created for our discussion today.

Creative Material Type	Concepts
Digital Banner Ads	Ad E: Why I’m Eating Better Ad T: Honoring Family Traditions Ad C: Honoring Your Commitments Ad M: Budget Friendly
Fact Sheet

The first items I am going to show you are plans for banner ads, or ads that you might see when you are on a website. These are not finished. They are just ideas to share for this discussion. And, as you review them, please try to put aside how you feel about banner ads overall. I want you to review them based on what you think they are trying to say and how they are doing it.

[MODERATOR, EACH GROUP WILL SEE 3 CONCEPTS OF BANNER ADS, EACH WITH 2 OPTIONS, ROTATED ACROSS ALL GROUPS. MODERATOR WILL SHOW BOTH OPTIONS FOR ONE CONCEPT BASED ON THE ROTATION SCHEDULE AND WILL HAVE THE DISCUSSION, BELOW, FOR THAT CONCEPT. MODERATOR WILL REPEAT THIS PROCESS FOR THE REMAINING 2 CONCEPTS. THEN, MODERATOR WILL MOVE TO QUESTIONS AFTER SHOWING ALL 6 OPTIONS AT ONCE]

BANNER ADS E₂ (INDIVIDUAL) AND E₄ (COLLECTIVE):

1. [MODERATOR SHARE AND READ THROUGH BOTH OPTIONS]

2. Before we talk about them, take a moment and type, in the chat, which of the two options speaks to you in a more positive way. [ALLOW RESPONSE VIA CHAT]

3. What is your first reaction to these ideas?

4. Using your own words, what is the main idea they are trying to communicate?

   1. Are they trying to communicate the same idea or different ideas?

   2. How different is what they are trying to communicate?

5. Which one did you prefer? What about that one gave you a more positive reaction than the other? Please be as specific as possible.

6. [IF NOT MENTIONED:] You may notice that one of them, E₂, focuses on the individual.

   1. Does that matter to you? What makes you say that?

   2. How does it make you feel?

7. It tries to communicate the idea that if someone eats in a way to take care of themselves now, they can be their best self in the future.

   1. Do you agree or disagree with this idea?

   2. Is it realistic? What makes you say that?

   3. Would you consider “getting healthy” or “being healthy” as something that is your responsibility to do? What makes you say that?

   4. What do you think about the image of the graduate? How well does it fit with this overall idea in E₂? What makes you say that?

   5. What do you think about the image of the grandparents and grandkids? How well does it fit with this overall idea in E₄? What makes you say that?

8. How could MyPlate help in this area? In other words, what do you think you would see on the landing page if you clicked on these banner ads?

BANNER ADS T₃ (HEALTH) AND T₅ (VARIETY):

1. [MODERATOR SHARE AND READ THROUGH BOTH OPTIONS]

2. Before we talk about them, take a moment and type, in the chat, which of the two options speaks to you in a more positive way. [ALLOW RESPONSE VIA CHAT]

3. What is your first reaction to these ideas?

4. Using your own words, what is the main idea they are trying to communicate?

   1. Are they trying to communicate the same idea or different ideas?

   2. How different is what they are trying to communicate?

5. Which one did you prefer? What about that one gave you a more positive reaction than the other? Please be as specific as possible.

6. [IF NOT MENTIONED:] What do you think about health and family food/eating traditions? Is it possible for them to “go together”? What makes you say that?

   1. Is it realistic? What makes you say that?

   2. When you read T₅, what does “variety” mean to you?

   3. Could “variety” help to “spice up your family food/eating traditions”? How so?

7. How could MyPlate help in this area? In other words, what do you think you would see on the landing page if you clicked on these banner ads?

BANNER ADS C₄ (PROMISES) AND T₇ (DREAMS):

1. [MODERATOR SHARE AND READ THROUGH BOTH OPTIONS]

2. Before we talk about them, take a moment and type, in the chat, which of the two options speaks to you in a more positive way. [ALLOW RESPONSE VIA CHAT]

3. What is your first reaction to these ideas?

4. Using your own words, what is the main idea they are trying to communicate?

   1. Are they trying to communicate the same idea or different ideas?

   2. How different is what they are trying to communicate?

5. Which one did you prefer? What about that one gave you a more positive reaction than the other? Please be as specific as possible.

6. [IF NOT MENTIONED:]

   1. When you saw C₄, what “promises” came to mind?

   2. Do you agree or disagree with the idea that healthy eating will help you to keep them? What makes you say that?

   3. When you read C₇, what “dreams” came to mind?

   4. Do you agree or disagree with the idea that “living your dreams starts with improving your plate”? What makes you say that?

7. How could MyPlate help in this area? In other words, what do you think you would see on the landing page if you clicked on these banner ads?

BANNER ADS M₅ (FAMILY BUDGET) AND M₈ (AFFORDABLE CHOICES):

1. [MODERATOR SHARE AND READ THROUGH BOTH OPTIONS]

2. Before we talk about them, take a moment and type, in the chat, which of the two options speaks to you in a more positive way. [ALLOW RESPONSE VIA CHAT]

3. What is your first reaction to these ideas?

4. Using your own words, what is the main idea they are trying to communicate?

   1. Are they trying to communicate the same idea or different ideas?

   2. How different is what they are trying to communicate?

5. Which one did you prefer? What about that one gave you a more positive reaction than the other? Please be as specific as possible.

6. [IF NOT MENTIONED:]

   1. How important is keeping a budget in mind when it comes to healthy eating?

   2. How relevant is this idea?

   3. What was your reaction to M₅ and its mention of helping your family eat healthier?

7. How could MyPlate help in this area? In other words, what do you think you would see on the website if you clicked on these banner ads?

   1. When you look at M₈, what questions, if any, do you have about MyPlate.gov providing affordable choices?

8. Thank you for that information. I am now going to show you all 6 options on one screen. Please review all 6 and, in the chat, type the letters of the two that make you MOST likely to click on the banner ad to visit MyPlate.gov. [MODERATOR, SHOW ALL 6, TAKE COUNT VIA CHAT]

9. Now, again in the chat, type the letters of the two that make you LEAST likely to click on the banner ad to visit MyPlate.gov. [MODERATOR, SHOW ALL 6, TAKE COUNT VIA CHAT]

10. [MODERATOR GO AROUND SCREEN AS TIME ALLOWS:]

    1. What made you select the two that made you MOST likely to click on the ad to visit MyPlate.gov? What, specifically, did you like the most?

    2. Let’s look at the other side of the coin. What made you select the two that made you LEAST likely to click on the ad to visit MyPlate.gov? What, specifically, put those in the bottom two for you?

4. FACT SHEET – I have one last piece of information to show you. On your screen, you will see some information that you may find on MyPlate.gov. Please read it, and as you do, write on your scratch sheet of paper what words, pictures, or phrases you like, what you do not like, and what, if anything, you find confusing.

1. [PLACE FACT SHEET IN CHAT] – Please click on what I put in the chat, take your time, and read/review the information you see there.

2. [AFTER RESPONDENTS FINISH REVIEW]

1. What is your first reaction to what you see?

2. What word or phrase would you use to describe the tone of what you see on this page?

3. Who is it for?

   1. How do you know?

   2. Is it for someone like you? What makes you say that?

3. What, if anything, do you like about it?

4. What, if anything, do you dislike about it?

5. What, if anything, is confusing?

6. What would you add, or take out to make it work better for you?

3. Let’s look at some of the language on the page.

1. [IF NOT MENTIONED:] What do you think about the information on the top, in the blue rectangle?

   1. What about the phrase, “Get More from Life with MyPlate”? What was your initial reaction?

   2. Is it realistic? Believable? What makes you say that?

   3. What about the statement below that header, “Discover all that healthy eating can do…”?

   4. Is it realistic? Believable?

   5. What parts of it did you like? Dislike? What makes you say that?

   1. [IF NOT MENTIONED:] What was your reaction to the statement below the blue header, “Healthy eating feels good today…”

      1. Is it realistic? Believable?

      2. What parts of it did you like? Dislike? What makes you say that?

      3. What, if anything, did you find confusing?

V. Wrap-up/False Close [5 minutes]

1. Thank you for your thoughtful feedback so far. While I check with my colleagues to make sure they do not have any additional questions, please look at the screen and answer the question in the chat box.

[SHARE QUESTION] Of all of the materials we shared during this discussion, which one did the best job of making you feel as though it was created specifically for you? What makes you say that? Please be as specific as you can.

2. Thanks again! To thank you for your time, you will receive a $75 gift card as a token of appreciation.

Rotation Schedule for Creative

Group	Audience	Banner Ads		Fact Sheet
1	Black adults; low income; overweight/obese		E, T, C	shown to all
2	Black adults; low income; healthy weight		M, C, T	shown to all
3	Black adults; middle-to-high income; mixed BMI		C, M, E	shown to all
4	Hispanic adults; English; low income; overweight/obese		T, E, M	shown to all
5	Hispanic adults; English; low income; healthy weight		E, C, T	shown to all
6	Hispanic adults; English; middle-to-high income; mixed BMI		M, T, C	shown to all
7	Hispanic adults; Spanish; low income; overweight/obese		C, E, M	shown to all
8	Hispanic adults; Spanish; low income; healthy weight		T, M, E	shown to all
9	Hispanic adults; Spanish; middle-to-high income; mixed BMI		E, T, C	shown to all
10	White adults; low income; overweight/obese		M, C, T	shown to all
11	White adults; low income; healthy weight		C, M, E	shown to all
12	White adults; middle-to-high income; mixed BMI		T, E, M	shown to all
13	Parents w/ children < 18 in household		C, M, T	shown to all
14	Parents w/ children < 18 in household		M, E, C	shown to all
15	Empty nesters/older adults		T, E, M	shown to all
16	Empty nesters/older adults		E, C, T	shown to all
17	18-25 years old		C, M, E	shown to all
18	18-25 years old		M, T, E	shown to all

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