To address diet quality disparities in low-income families, policymakers and health experts recommend strategies such as financial incentives to promote consumption of fruits and vegetables (FVs). Real-time incentives for purchasing FV and variable incentives are promising, untested strategies to improve families’ diets and health. The goal of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of financial incentives delivered in real-time at the point of purchase, on low-income consumers’ purchase of FVs, FV consumption,diet quality, and weight/BMI. The study will test variable levels of incentives compared to static incentives and a no-incentive control condition. Shoppers from 300 low-income families living in Philadelphia will be recruited. Adults must use SNAP or be SNAP-eligible, be the primary household shopper, shop at a participating store,and have at least one child aged 2-17 living in the home.
Start Date: February 2019
ID #: 76304
Principal Investigator: Karen Glanz, PhD, MPH
Organization: University of Pennsylvania
Funding Round: Round 11
Age Group: Adults and Families
Race/Ethnicity: African American or Black, American Indian, Asian, Latino(a) or Hispanic, White
Focus Areas: Food Retail, Pricing & Economics
Keywords: Fruits and vegetables, Grocery store, Supermarket, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Resource Type: Grant Summary
State: Pennsylvania
Related Research
July 2025
State Earned Income Tax Credit and Food Security: Results Among Economically At-Risk Households With Children
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the state Earned Income Tax Credit on food insecurity among economically at-risk U.S. households with children and explore differential effects across sociodemographic groups. The authors used an intent-to-treat causal inference design and household-level data from all 50 U.S. states available from the Current Population MoreJune 2025
Community Engaged Research Strategies Used in Food Retail Interventions: A Scoping Review
The purpose of this scoping review is to identify what community engagement (CE) research approaches have been applied by researchers in the retail food environment (RFE) intervention literature and how they vary by type of retail settings, phase of intervention, year of intervention, and key domains of equity. A total of 98 RFE interventions reported MoreMarch 2025