Randomised controlled trial of a text messaging intervention for reducing processed meat consumption: The mediating roles of anticipated regret and intention

The present study aimed to extend the literature on text messaging interventions involved in promoting healthy eating behaviours. The theoretical framework was the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). A randomized controlled trial was used to test the impact of daily text messages compared to no message (groups) for reducing processed meat consumption (PMC) over a 2 week period, testing the sequential mediation role of anticipated regret and intention on the relationship between groups and PMC reduction. PMC and TPB variables were assessed both at Time 1 and Time 2. Participants were Italian undergraduates (at Time 1 N = 124) randomly allocated to control and message condition groups. Undergraduates in the message condition group received a daily SMS, which focused on anticipated regret and urged them to self-monitor PMC. Participants in the control group did not receive any message. Those who completed all measures at both time points were included in the analyses (N = 112). Findings showed that a daily messaging intervention, controlling for participants' past behaviour, reduced self-reported consumption of PMC. Mediation analyses indicated partial serial mediation via anticipated regret and intentions. The current study provided support for the efficacy of a daily messaging intervention targeting anticipated regret and encouraging self-monitoring in decreasing PMC. Outcomes showed the important mediating role of anticipated regret and intentions for reducing PMC.

[1]  L. Scrimgeour.  Digital Persuasion: Effects of web-based information and beliefs on meat consumption attitudes and intentions , 2012 .

[2]  M. Conner,et al.  Anticipated regret as an additional predictor in the theory of planned behaviour: a meta-analysis. , 2008, The British journal of social psychology.

[3]  Erik de Bakker,et al.  Reducing Meat Consumption in Today’s Consumer Society: Questioning the Citizen-Consumer Gap , 2012 .

[4]  Mary J Wills,et al.  Do u smoke after txt? Results of a randomised trial of smoking cessation using mobile phone text messaging , 2005, Tobacco Control.

[5]  M. Stockwell,et al.  Text4Health: a qualitative evaluation of parental readiness for text message immunization reminders. , 2009, American journal of public health.

[6]  Sarah J Clark,et al.  Tailored mobile phone text messages as an adjunct to obesity treatment for adolescents , 2009, Journal of telemedicine and telecare.

[7]  Alfred Lange,et al.  Structured Writing and Processing Major Stressful Events: A Controlled Trial , 2002, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.

[8]  C. Abraham,et al.  The Behavior Change Technique Taxonomy (v1) of 93 Hierarchically Clustered Techniques: Building an International Consensus for the Reporting of Behavior Change Interventions , 2013, Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.

[9]  Mark Conner,et al.  Role of anticipated regret, intentions and intention stability in adolescent smoking initiation. , 2006, British journal of health psychology.

[10]  F. Leroy,et al.  Meat traditions. The co-evolution of humans and meat , 2015, Appetite.

[11]  F. H. Kanfer.  Self-monitoring: Methodological limitations and clinical applications. , 1970 .

[12]  Charles Abraham,et al.  Deciding to exercise: the role of anticipated regret. , 2004, British journal of health psychology.

[13]  C. Abraham,et al.  Randomized controlled trial of a brief research-based intervention promoting fruit and vegetable consumption. , 2005, British journal of health psychology.

[14]  P. Catellani,et al.  Promoting change in meat consumption among the elderly: Factual and prefactual framing of health and well-being , 2016, Appetite.

[15]  David E. Bell,et al.  Regret in Decision Making under Uncertainty , 1982, Oper. Res..

[16]  M. Conner,et al.  Efficacy of the Theory of Planned Behaviour: a meta-analytic review. , 2001, The British journal of social psychology.

[17]  S. deFrance.  Zooarchaeology in Complex Societies: Political Economy, Status, and Ideology , 2009 .

[18]  R. Sugden,et al.  Regret Theory: An alternative theory of rational choice under uncertainty Review of Economic Studies , 1982 .

[19]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Predicting and Changing Behavior: The Reasoned Action Approach , 2009 .

[20]  K. G. Bailey,et al.  Audiotape and videotape self-confrontation in psychotherapy. , 1970, Psychological bulletin.

[21]  A. Manstead,et al.  Modifying beliefs and attitudes to exceeding the speed limit: An intervention study based on the theory of planned behavior , 1996 .

[22]  C. Klöckner,et al.  Individual motivations for limiting meat consumption , 2014 .

[23]  Richard P. Bagozzi,et al.  A comparison of leading theories for the prediction of goal‐directed behaviours , 1995 .

[24]  Abílio Oliveira,et al.  Attached to meat? (Un)Willingness and intentions to adopt a more plant-based diet , 2015, Appetite.

[25]  David Gill,et al.  Predicting health behavior , 1997 .

[26]  Aaron Smith,et al.  Social Media & Mobile Internet Use among Teens and Young Adults. Millennials. , 2010 .

[27]  Dariush Mozaffarian,et al.  Red and Processed Meat Consumption and Risk of Incident Coronary Heart Disease, Stroke, and Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis , 2010, Circulation.

[28]  M. Conner,et al.  The role of self-identity in predicting fruit and vegetable intake , 2016, Appetite.

[29]  P. Gollwitzer,et al.  Supporting Sustainable Food Consumption: Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions (MCII) Aligns Intentions and Behavior , 2016, Front. Psychol..

[30]  M. Wilde,et al.  A concept analysis of self-monitoring. , 2007, Journal of advanced nursing.

[31]  P. Börjesson,et al.  Sustainable meat consumption: A quantitative analysis of nutritional intake, greenhouse gas emissions and land use from a Swedish perspective , 2014 .

[32]  Paul Sparks,et al.  Self‐Identity and the Theory of Planned Behavior: A Useful Addition or an Unhelpful Artifice?1 , 1998 .

[33]  N. Fiddes.  Meat, a natural symbol , 1991 .

[34]  J. DeFrank,et al.  Anticipated regret and health behavior: A meta-analysis. , 2015, Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association.

[35]  Ayelet Fishbach,et al.  CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Self-Control A Function of Knowing When and How to Exercise Restraint , 2022 .

[36]  M. Conner,et al.  Predicting intentions and consumption of fruit and vegetables in Italian adolescents effects of anticipated regret and self-identity , 2016 .

[37]  Amy D. Otto,et al.  Comparison of techniques for self-monitoring eating and exercise behaviors on weight loss in a correspondence-based intervention. , 2007, Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

[38]  V. Franklin,et al.  A randomized controlled trial of Sweet Talk, a text‐messaging system to support young people with diabetes , 2006, Diabetic medicine : a journal of the British Diabetic Association.

[39]  Lynne Hamill,et al.  Mobile world : past, present and future , 2005 .

[40]  E. Ferguson,et al.  The "ick" factor, anticipated regret, and willingness to become an organ donor. , 2011, Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association.

[41]  R. Neff,et al.  “We don’t tell people what to do”: An examination of the factors influencing NGO decisions to campaign for reduced meat consumption in light of climate change , 2014 .

[42]  P. Sheeran,et al.  Augmenting the Theory of Planned Behavior: Roles for Anticipated Regret and Descriptive Norms , 1999 .

[43]  G. Bennett,et al.  Using facebook and text messaging to deliver a weight loss program to college students , 2013, Obesity.

[44]  R. McEachan,et al.  Changing exercise through targeting affective or cognitive attitudes , 2011, Psychology & health.

[45]  M. Conner,et al.  Randomized controlled trial of a messaging intervention to increase fruit and vegetable intake in adolescents: Affective versus instrumental messages. , 2016, British journal of health psychology.

[46]  Bryan C. Batch,et al.  Cell phone Intervention for You (CITY): A randomized, controlled trial of behavioral weight loss intervention for young adults using mobile technology , 2015, Obesity.

[47]  Maj Munch Andersen,et al.  Fostering change to sustainable consumption and production: an evidence based view , 2008 .

[48]  Alessandro Flammini,et al.  Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use Emissions by Sources and Removals by Sinks , 2014 .

[49]  C. Delgado.  Rising consumption of meat and milk in developing countries has created a new food revolution. , 2003, The Journal of nutrition.

[50]  Chris M. R. Smerecnik,et al.  Fear appeals in HIV prevention: The role of anticipated regret , 2010, Psychology, health & medicine.

[51]  I. Ajzen.  The theory of planned behavior , 1991 .

[52]  Christian A. Klöckner,et al.  A stage model as an analysis framework for studying voluntary change in food choices – The case of beef consumption reduction in Norway , 2017, Appetite.

[53]  Daniela Caso,et al.  L’uso di Internet e il benessere psicosociale in adolescenza: uno studio correlazionale , 2015 .

[54]  Yael Benn,et al.  Does monitoring goal progress promote goal attainment? A meta-analysis of the experimental evidence. , 2016, Psychological bulletin.

[55]  Julian M. Allwood,et al.  Importance of food-demand management for climate mitigation , 2014 .

[56]  Amanda K. Hall,et al.  Mobile text messaging for health: a systematic review of reviews. , 2015, Annual review of public health.

[57]  R. King,et al.  Mobile phone SMS messages can enhance healthy behaviour: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials , 2015, Health psychology review.

[58]  Fraser McLeay,et al.  Should we stop meating like this? Reducing meat consumption through substitution , 2016 .

[59]  L. Burke,et al.  Self‐weighing in weight management: A systematic literature review , 2015, Obesity.

[60]  S. Smed,et al.  The effect of using consumption taxes on foods to promote climate friendly diets – The case of Denmark , 2013 .

[61]  Robert B Voas,et al.  A failed norms social marketing campaign. , 2003, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[62]  D. Caso,et al.  Un intervento di messaggistica istantanea per la promozione del monitoraggio del consumo di frutta e verdura , 2017 .

[63]  Kurt Straif,et al.  Carcinogenicity of consumption of red and processed meat. , 2015, The Lancet. Oncology.

[64]  J. S. Sodhi,et al.  Using Internet and Mobile Phone Technology to Deliver an Automated Physical Activity Program: Randomized Controlled Trial , 2007, Journal of medical Internet research.

[65]  Deborah A. Prentice,et al.  When small effects are impressive , 1992 .

[66]  M. Conner,et al.  Prospective prediction of health-related behaviours with the Theory of Planned Behaviour: a meta-analysis , 2011 .

[67]  L. Nebeling,et al.  Psychosocial predictors of fruit and vegetable consumption in adults a review of the literature. , 2008, American journal of preventive medicine.

[68]  Joop van der Pligt,et al.  Anticipated regret and time perspective: Changing sexual risk-taking behavior. , 1996 .

[69]  T. Chey,et al.  A systematic review and meta-analysis of interventions for weight management using text messaging. , 2015, Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association.

[70]  W. DeJong,et al.  Done 4: Analysis of a Failed Social Norms Marketing Campaign , 2005, Health communication.

[71]  Susan J. Woolford,et al.  Tailored Mobile Phone Text Messages as an Adjunct to Obesity Treatment for Adolescents , 2009 .

[72]  Marco Perugini,et al.  Not Doing Is Not the Opposite of Doing: Implications for Attitudinal Models of Behavioral Prediction , 2011, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[73]  Duncan B. Clark,et al.  An Interactive Text Message Intervention to Reduce Binge Drinking in Young Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial with 9-Month Outcomes , 2015, PloS one.

[74]  G. Cicia,et al.  Exploring Willingness to Pay for QR Code Labeled Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior , 2017 .

[75]  Ana M. Martínez-Alemán,et al.  Online Social Networking on Campus: Understanding What Matters in Student Culture , 2008 .

[76]  M. Conner,et al.  Correlational study and randomised controlled trial for understanding and changing red meat consumption: The role of eating identities. , 2017, Social science & medicine.

[77]  F. G. Berzolari,et al.  An evaluation of a colour food photography atlas as a tool for quantifying food portion size in epidemiological dietary surveys , 2005, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

[78]  M. Conner,et al.  A mere measurement effect for anticipated regret: impacts on cervical screening attendance. , 2009, The British journal of social psychology.

[79]  M. Sevick,et al.  Self-monitoring in weight loss: a systematic review of the literature. , 2011, Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

[80]  Charles Abraham,et al.  Conscientiousness and the Theory of Planned Behavior: Toward a more Complete Model of the Antecedents of Intentions and Behavior , 2001 .

[81]  J. Boer,et al.  “Meatless days” or “less but better”? Exploring strategies to adapt Western meat consumption to health and sustainability challenges , 2014, Appetite.

[82]  M. Conner,et al.  Using self-generated validity to promote exercise behaviour. , 2011, The British journal of social psychology.

[83]  T. Conner,et al.  The development and effectiveness of an ecological momentary intervention to increase daily fruit and vegetable consumption in low-consuming young adults , 2017, Appetite.