Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
Previous studies have looked at the effects of television advertising on children’s food intake. However, we need to measure the effects of non-traditional forms of marketing on children’s behavior. An advergame is a video game that contains an advertisement for a product, service, or company. The aim of this study is to find out whether playing advergames promoting high-calorie snacks or fruit affect food intake among children.
Who can participate?
Children aged 8-10.
What does the study involve?
The children are randomly allocated to either play an advergame promoting high-calorie snacks, fruit, or toys, or to not play a game at all. The children’s intake of snacks and fruit is then measured. The children complete questionnaires and are weighed and measured.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
There were no benefits or risks of participating.
Where is the study run from?
Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR), University of Amsterdam (Netherlands)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
November 2011 to February 2012
Who is funding the study?
Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR), University of Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Who is the main contact?
Frans Folkvord
f.folkvord@uva.nl
Trial website
Contact information
Type
Scientific
Primary contact
Mr Frans Folkvord
ORCID ID
Contact details
Kloveniersburgwal 48
Amsterdam
1012 CX
Netherlands
-
f.folkvord@uva.nl
Additional identifiers
EudraCT number
ClinicalTrials.gov number
Protocol/serial number
N/A
Study information
Scientific title
The effect of playing advergames that promote energy-dense snacks or fruit on actual food intake among children: a randomised study
Acronym
Study hypothesis
1. Children that play an advergame containing energy-dense snacks will eat more energy-dense snacks afterwards.
2. Children that play an advergame containing fruit will eat more fruit afterwards.
Ethics approval
Amsterdam School of Communication Research/ASCoR, 17/11/2011, ref: ASCoR-u-2011-03
Study design
Randomized between-subject design
Primary study design
Interventional
Secondary study design
Randomised controlled trial
Trial setting
Other
Trial type
Other
Patient information sheet
Not available in web format, please use the contact details below to request a patient information sheet
Condition
Obesity
Intervention
The children were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions, which involved playing
1.The energy-dense snacks advergame (i.e., promoting a popular candy brand and 8 different gummy and jelly sweets from this popular candy brand)
2. The fruit advergame (i.e., promoting a popular fruit brand and 8 different fruits, fruit drinks, or cups with fruit from this popular brand)
3. The nonfood advergame (i.e., promoting a popular Dutch toy brand and 8 individual toys from this popular toy brand); or
4. No game at all (control condition).
We randomized the conditions within schools and the conditions were counterbalanced to start with a different condition every day, so that none of the conditions were tested more in the morning or just before or after the break. The order of conditions was also counterbalanced to avoid any order effects. A professional game designer designed the advergames. All games were identical, except for the advertised brands and products. The game involved a memory game with 16 cards, whereby the brands appeared on the back of the cards, and the individual products (candy, fruit, or toys) appeared on the front of the cards. These products clearly displayed the brand logos. Furthermore, we showed the brand on the right side of the screen to enhance the awareness of the advertised brand. Similar to regular advergames, we integrated two specific features to immerse the children into the game. First, a digital timer appeared on the top-left of the screen, and a time bar appeared in the top center of the screen to exert time pressure on the children. Second, the game played an unpleasant sound when a child selected a false pair and a pleasant sound when a child selected a correct pair. All children were presented four bowls that contained four different food snacks. Two bowls contained energy-dense food snacks, (1) jelly candy (cola bottles) and (2) milk chocolate candy shells; and two bowls contained sliced fruit snacks, (3) bananas and (4) apples. Two bowls of test food, such as cola bottles and bananas, were identical to one of the food products shown in the advergame. In addition to these food snacks, we used other popular candy (milk chocolate candy shells) and fruit (apples) to test possible spill-over effects.
Intervention type
Behavioural
Phase
Drug names
Primary outcome measure
1. Kcal intake of fruit, energy dense snacks, and total. We preweighed the bowls that contained food and measured it again after the child left the room. We calculated kcal according to the amount they ate.
Secondary outcome measures
1. Hunger [Visual analogue scales (VAS scale)]: not hungry - very hungry
2. Age, gender
Overall trial start date
01/10/2011
Overall trial end date
02/02/2012
Reason abandoned (if study stopped)
Eligibility
Participant inclusion criteria
Children (girls and boys) between 8-10 years
Participant type
Healthy volunteer
Age group
Child
Gender
Both
Target number of participants
270
Participant exclusion criteria
1. Children younger than 8 years or older than 10 years
2. Children allergic to one of the test foods
Recruitment start date
01/10/2011
Recruitment end date
02/02/2012
Locations
Countries of recruitment
Netherlands
Trial participating centre
Kloveniersburgwal 48
Amsterdam
1012 CX
Netherlands
Sponsor information
Organisation
Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR) (Netherlands)
Sponsor details
Kloveniersburgwal 48
Amsterdam
1012 CX
Netherlands
-
f.folkvord@uva.nl
Sponsor type
University/education
Website
Funders
Funder type
University/education
Funder name
Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR), University of Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Alternative name(s)
Funding Body Type
Funding Body Subtype
Location
Results and Publications
Publication and dissemination plan
Not provided at time of registration
Intention to publish date
Participant level data
Not provided at time of registration
Basic results (scientific)
Publication list
2013 results in: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23269821
2016 results in: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26861445
Publication citations
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Results
Folkvord F, Anschütz DJ, Buijzen M, Valkenburg PM, The effect of playing advergames that promote energy-dense snacks or fruit on actual food intake among children., Am. J. Clin. Nutr., 2013, 97, 2, 239-245, doi: 10.3945/ajcn.112.047126.