CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT01710124Updated Jun 11, 2015

Buy 1 Get 1: Role of Grocery Coupons in Promoting Obesogenic Home Food Environments and Eating Behaviors

An interventional study of Financial incentives in Obesity, sponsored by University of Pennsylvania. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 40 Years to 70 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2015-06-11.

Sponsored by University of Pennsylvania · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
54
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
40 Years to 70 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The prevalence of overweight and obesity among older adults has reached an all-time high, which puts this age group at high risk for associated comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain forms of cancer. Confronted with declining incomes and economic uncertainty, many middle-aged and older Americans tried to save on their food purchases during the 2007-2009 recession. Grocery coupons, available through newspapers, mail, and increasingly online, are one of several promotional tools that supermarkets and warehouse clubs use to promote sales. It is estimated that nationally 27% of households are frequent grocery coupon users who shop at a variety of retailers. Despite the increasing popularity of grocery coupons, little is known about the extent to which they may promote obesogenic home food environments and eating behaviors. Many coupons advertise the purchase of large quantities of prepackaged and processed foods and often reward shoppers by adding 'free' products if they purchase certain quantities. Availability and easy accessibility of large portions of energy dense foods in the home has been shown to promote increased intake. The proposed study seeks to examine the effects of frequent grocery coupon usage on dietary intake, weight status, and home food availability among middle-aged and older adults. A second aim of this study is to test, in a randomized-controlled trial, the effects of incentivizing grocery coupon use for the purchase of healthy foods on 3-month changes in dietary intake, body mass index/waist circumference, home food availability, and grocery coupon use among frequent coupon users and non-coupon users.

02

Conditions studied

  • Obesity

Keywords

  • grocery purchases
  • financial incentives
  • obesogenic home food environment
03

In context

Lead sponsor

University of Pennsylvania is the lead sponsor of 1,635 studies on the registry; 239 are open to participants now.

Of its 154 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 104 (68%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
40 Years to 70 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • 40 - 70 years of age
  • frequent grocery coupon users
  • non-coupon users

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • dieting
  • medication use or medical conditions known to affect food intake and weight
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
54 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Incentive

    Subjects in this group will receive financial incentives for using grocery coupons to purchase healthy foods.

    Other: Financial incentives

  • No intervention
    No incentive

    Subjects in this group will receive no financial incentives.

Interventions

  • OtherFinancial incentives
06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Dietary intake

    Time frame: Change from baseline to month 3 (end of intervention)

  2. Body mass index

    Time frame: Change from baseline to month 3 (end of intervention)

  3. Waist circumference

    Time frame: Change from baseline to month 3 (end of intervention)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Number of healthy and less healthy foods in the home

    Time frame: Change from baseline to month 3 (end of intervention)

07

Study locations

1 site
  • University of Pennsylvania
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jun 11, 2015, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT01710124
Lead sponsor
University of Pennsylvania
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Oct 18, 2012
Start date
Jan 2013
Primary completion
Jul 2013
Completion
Jul 2013
Last update
Jun 11, 2015

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Sep 2012. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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