Digital Nudges Successfully Promote Healthier Food Choices in Online Grocery Shopping

A recent study conducted by researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School demonstrates that strategically designed digital interventions can significantly influence consumer behavior when shopping for groceries online. The study highlights how incorporating simple yet effective digital features—such as color-coded nutritional signals, sorting by nutritional value, real-time cart feedback, and healthier alternatives—can lead to healthier grocery baskets and reduce calorie intake. The trial involved participants using a custom online store called NUSMart, where those who experienced these interventions showed a marked improvement in the nutritional quality of their chosen items, moving from a Nutri-Score grade C to B. They also purchased fewer calories, total and saturated fats, sugar, and sodium. The interventions included traffic light signals indicating food healthiness, sorting items by nutritional value, visual feedback via pie charts, and suggestive healthier options, all of which contributed to better food choices across three shopping sessions. The lead researcher, Assistant Professor Soye Shin, emphasized the potential of scalable, low-cost digital tools to support healthier diets in the growing sphere of online grocery shopping. The findings support the expansion of diet quality labels like Singapore’s Nutri-Grade and suggest collaboration with retailers could maximize these benefits. Future research aims to include low socio-economic groups and assess long-term impacts on health. This innovative approach underscores how evidence-based digital strategies can empower consumers, improve population health, and reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.