INTRODUCTION: Consumers play an important role in ensuring that meals made with raw poultry are safe to eat. The "Don’t Wing It" Web site provides recipes and food safety information targeted to millennial parents of young children (<5 years) and older adults (65+). Purpose: To estimate the impact of a simple "Don’t Wing It" prototype Web site on consumer behaviors and to measure satisfaction.
METHODS: We recruited participants in target populations (parents and older adults) from a Web-based panel and randomly assigned them to the treatment group (exposed to the "Don’t Wing It" Web site) or the control group (alternative Web site). We collected data at baseline (n=3,937) and follow-up (n=2,363, four weeks after exposure). We used difference-in-difference (DiD) models to assess the impact of exposure to the Web site on participant behaviors.
RESULTS: About 92% of treatment group participants (n=984) reported going to the Web site and reading all or most of the information. Most found the Web site very or somewhat informative, very or somewhat useful, easy to navigate, and easy to understand. About 80% reported learning at least one new thing, and 74% would refer to the Web site again. About 50% self-reported behavior changes after exposure to the Web site; most common behaviors were washing hands after touching raw poultry, placing poultry in a plastic bag at the grocery store, and improved storing practices for raw poultry and leftovers. Responses were similar for parents and older adults. Based on results of the DiD analysis, there were no statistically significant differences in behavior between baseline and follow-up when comparing the treatment and control groups.
SIGNIFICANCE: Participant satisfaction with the "Don’t Wing It" Web site was high. Although participants self-reported behavior changes, the changes were not statistically significant when compared with the control group. This may be because one exposure was not sufficient to motivate behavior change. Future research should consider expanding the intervention to include repeated exposure to food safety messaging.
