Objective: To assess the impacts associated with a grocery store tour point-of-purchase intervention using podcasts about omega-3 fatty acid (n-3)-rich food items.
Design: A repeated-measures secondary data analysis of food purchase records obtained from a convenience sample of shoppers' loyalty cards.
Participants: Shoppers (n = 251) who had listened to podcasts regarding n-3-rich foods while shopping.
Main outcome measure(s): The number of omega-3-rich food purchases made according to food or food category by participants determined via spreadsheets obtained from grocery store chain.
Analysis: Descriptive statistics were performed on demographic characteristics. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to assess whether food purchases increased from 6 months before to 6 months after intervention. Correlations assessed the relationship between intentions to purchase n-3-rich foods expressed on the intervention day with actual long-term n-3-rich food purchases. Nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis ANOVAs and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to analyze differences between changes made and demographic variables (ie, participants' gender, race, and education levels).
Results: Most shoppers (59%) increased n-3-rich food purchases, with significant mean purchase changes (t[172] = -6.9; P < .001; pre = 0.2 ± 0.7; post = 3.6 ± 5.1).
Conclusions and implications: Podcasts are promising nutrition education tools. Longer studies could assess whether lasting change results from podcast use.
Keywords: Theory of Reasoned Action; grocery store; health education; omega-3 fatty acids; podcasts; smartphones.
Copyright © 2017 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.