Using a 3D Virtual Supermarket to Measure Food Purchase Behavior: A Validation Study

Abstract

BackgroundThere is increasing recognition that supermarkets are an important environment for health-promoting interventions such as fiscal food policies or front-of-pack nutrition labeling. However, due to the complexities of undertaking such research in the real world, well-designed randomized controlled trials on these kinds of interventions are lacking. The Virtual Supermarket is a 3-dimensional computerized research environment designed to enable experimental studies in a supermarket setting without the complexity or costs normally associated with undertaking such research.ObjectiveThe primary objective was to validate the Virtual Supermarket by comparing virtual and real-life food purchasing behavior. A secondary objective was to obtain participant feedback on perceived sense of “presence” (the subjective experience of being in one place or environment even if physically located in another) in the Virtual Supermarket.MethodsEligible main household shoppers (New Zealand adults aged ≥18 years) were asked to conduct 3 shopping occasions in the Virtual Supermarket over 3 consecutive weeks, complete the validated Presence Questionnaire Items Stems, and collect their real supermarket grocery till receipts for that same period. Proportional expenditure (NZ$) and the proportion of products purchased over 18 major food groups were compared between the virtual and real supermarkets. Data were analyzed using repeated measures mixed models.ResultsA total of 123 participants consented to take part in the study. In total, 69.9% (86/123) completed 1 shop in the Virtual Supermarket, 64.2% (79/123) completed 2 shops, 60.2% (74/123) completed 3 shops, and 48.8% (60/123) returned their real supermarket till receipts. The 4 food groups with the highest relative expenditures were the same for the virtual and real supermarkets: fresh fruit and vegetables (virtual estimate: 14.3%; real: 17.4%), bread and bakery (virtual: 10.0%; real: 8.2%), dairy (virtual: 19.1%; real: 12.6%), and meat and fish (virtual: 16.5%; real: 16.8%). Significant differences in proportional expenditures were observed for 6 food groups, with largest differences (virtual – real) for dairy (in expenditure 6.5%, P<.001; in items 2.2%, P=.04) and fresh fruit and vegetables (in expenditure: –3.1%, P=.04; in items: 5.9%, P=.002). There was no trend of overspending in the Virtual Supermarket and participants experienced a medium-to-high presence (88%, 73/83 scored medium; 8%, 7/83 scored high).ConclusionsShopping patterns in the Virtual Supermarket were comparable to those in real life. Overall, the Virtual Supermarket is a valid tool to measure food purchasing behavior. Nevertheless, it is important to improve the functionality of some food categories, in particular fruit and vegetables and dairy. The results of this validation will assist in making further improvements to the software and with optimization of the internal and external validity of this innovative methodology.

Development and standardization of the “Let's Shop” questionnaire: an assessment of shopping habits and executive functions in people with obesity

“…As obesity has now become an epidemic, there is a clear need for an easy‐to‐use tool for exploring the differences between people who suffer from the same problem and shopping in the supermarket is a good scenario in which to examine the issue. Due to the complexities of undertaking research in a real supermarket, there are studies that used a virtual supermarket environment (Waterlander, Jiang, steenhuis, & Ni Mhurchu, ) to investigate the shopping behavior of obese individuals. In this study, a questionnaire was developed which could be used to learn more about the participant's supermarket shopping experience and to investigate both the individual's shopping habits and EF while shopping.…”

A study on the use of an immersive virtual reality store to investigate consumer perceptions and purchase behavior toward non-standard fruits and vegetables

“…Finally, Waterlander et al [31] recently showed that shopping patterns in a virtual supermarket were comparable to those in real life and conclude that virtual supermarkets are a valid tool to measure food purchasing behavior. It is worth noting that authors stressed that it is important to improve the functionality of some food categories, in particular fruits, vegetables and dairy.…”

“…It is worth noting that apart from Waterlander et al [31,34], none of these research integrated fresh food and more specifically FaVs. Only [33] used some fresh FaVs in their webbased 3D supermarket but without offering any variability (a single 3D model was a used for each type of FaV).…”

Multisensory Human-Food Interaction

“…It can also be used to efficiently deliver realistic food cues to elicit craving (at least as indexed by self-report and salivation) just like actual food does (Ledoux et al, 2013; though see also . Intriguingly, virtual stores can elicit similar consumer choice of food products such as milk and cookies as those that have been documented in a physical store (van Herpen et al, 2016; see also Waterlander et al, 2015), and have been used to examine purchases of alcoholic drinks, such as beer (Bigné et al, 2016).…”