# Impact of Behavioral Economic Strategies on Low-Income Older Adults' Food Choices in Online Retail Settings

> **NIH NIH K01** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2024 · $121,096

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
The Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) will support my long-term career objective of
becoming an independent investigator who specializes in improving health behaviors and preventing chronic
disease development in high-risk groups, including aging populations and those receiving nutrition assistance.
Older adults have a higher risk of chronic disease, including several conditions strongly associated with poor
nutrition. Increased intake of fruits and vegetables has been shown to lower the risk of multiple chronic
diseases. However, very few older adults consume the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables,
especially those with limited income. While most adults in the U.S. still visit a store to buy groceries at least
once a week, online grocery shopping is rapidly expanding in popularity, including among older adults. The
growth in online grocery shopping offers a promising opportunity to tailor healthy eating interventions to online
food retail environments. However, to our knowledge, no research has evaluated interventions designed to
promote healthier online food purchases among low-income older adults. To address these gaps in the
literature, the specific aims of this proposal are to 1) develop the components of a behavioral economics
strategy (i.e., healthy bundle defaults) to influence diet behaviors; 2) characterize the online grocery shopping
behaviors and attitudes of low-income older adults nationally; and 3) examine the extent to which “healthy
bundles defaults” and other behavioral economic strategies increase fruit and vegetable purchases among low-
income adults in an online randomized controlled experiment. Data to inform the development of “healthy
bundle defaults” in Aim 1 will come from the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey
(FoodAPS), a nationally representative survey of household food purchases and acquisitions, including
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) households. For Aims 2 and 3, I will recruit a nationwide
nonprobability panel of 2,528 low-income adults aged >50 years through Survey Sampling International (SSI),
an online surveying company that recruits volunteer research participants through their online panels and other
online communities. The findings from the proposed research will support the development of novel and much-
needed approaches to improving food purchases in an aging population with an elevated risk of developing
nutrition-based diseases. My training goals closely parallel my research aims and will further enhance my
understanding of: 1) aging and health, 2) behavioral economics, 3) experimental research methods, and 4)
survey design and development. This training will be augmented with additional professional development
activities, including attending and presenting at national academic meetings to disseminate findings. The
project builds upon the exceptional resources and mentoring at NYU School of Medicine and other institutions
to ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10831990
- **Project number:** 5K01AG064146-05
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Pasquale Rummo
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $121,096
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-04-15 → 2025-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10831990

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10831990, Impact of Behavioral Economic Strategies on Low-Income Older Adults' Food Choices in Online Retail Settings (5K01AG064146-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10831990. Licensed CC0.

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