Can Point-of-sale Nutrition Information Encourage Reduced Preference for Sugary Drinks Among Adolescents?

Objective: To test whether point-of-sale (POS) information about the nutrition content of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) promotes healthier drink choices among teenagers, and explore whether POS intervention effects vary based on prior exposure to a sugary drink public health campaign (13 Cancers).

Design: Between-subjects online experiment with three POS signage conditions: no signage (control); sugar content (SC) and Health Star Rating (HSR). Participants viewed their assigned POS sign alone, then alongside a drinks product display and chose which drink they would buy. Perceptions of various drink products and campaign recall were assessed.

Setting: Australia.

Participants: Adolescents aged 13-17 years (n 925) recruited via an online panel.

Results: POS signs did not promote a significant reduction in preference for SSB (cf. control condition). Cognitive and emotional responses to POS signs were strongest for the SC sign, which was rated higher than the HSR sign on various perceived effectiveness measures. Participants who saw the SC sign rated SSB as less healthy (cf. control condition) and were more likely to accurately estimate the number of teaspoons of sugar in soft drink (cf. HSR sign and control conditions). There was no significant interaction between prior exposure to the 13 Cancers campaign and POS signage condition regarding preferences for and perceptions of SSB.

Conclusions: SSB POS interventions may not have the desired effect on adolescents' drink preferences. Testing SSB POS signs in real-world retail settings is needed to determine whether positive educational impacts extend to promoting healthier drink purchases and reduced SSB consumption among teenagers.