Using Mobile Ecological Momentary Assessment to Understand Consumption and Context Around Online Food Delivery Use: Pilot Feasibility and Acceptability Study

Background: Mobile ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is a powerful tool for collecting real-time and contextual data from individuals. As our reliance on online technologies to increase convenience accelerates, the way we access food is changing. Online food delivery (OFD) services may further encourage unhealthy food consumption habits, given the high availability of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods. We used EMA to understand the real-time effects of OFD on individuals' food choices and consumption behaviors. Objective: The primary aims of this pilot study were to assess the feasibility and acceptability of using EMA in young users of OFD and compare 2 different EMA sampling methods. The secondary aims were to gather data on OFD events and their context and examine any correlations between demographics, lifestyle chronic disease risk factors, and OFD use.Methods: This study used EMA methods via a mobile app (mEMASense, ilumivu Inc). Existing users of OFD services aged 16 to 35 years in Australia who had access to a smartphone were recruited. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups: signal-contingent or event-contingent. The signal-contingent group was monitored over 3 days between 7 AM and 10 PM. They received 5 prompts each day to complete EMA surveys via the smartphone app. In contrast, the event-contingent group was monitored over 7 days and was asked to self-report any instance of OFD.Results: A total of 102 participants were analyzed, with 53 participants in the signal-contingent group and 49 participants in the event-contingent group. Compliance rates, indicating the feasibility of signal-contingent and event-contingent protocols, were similar at 72.5% (574/792) and 73.2% (251/343), respectively. Feedback from the participants suggested that the EMA app was not easy to use, which affected their acceptability of the study. Participants in the event-contingent group were 3.53 (95% CI 1.52-8.17) times more likely to have had an OFD event captured during the study. Pizza (23/124, 18.5%) and fried chicken (18/124, 14.5%) comprised a bulk of the 124 OFD orders captured. Most orders were placed at home (98/124, 79%) for 1 person (68/124, 54.8%). Age (incidence rate ratio 0.95, 95% CI 0.91-0.99; P=.03) and dependents (incidence rate ratio 2.01, 95% CI 1.16-3.49; P=.01) were significantly associated with the number of OFD events in a week after adjusting for gender, socioeconomic status, diet quality score, and perceived stress levels.Conclusions: This pilot study showed that EMA using an event-contingent sampling approach may be a better method to capture OFD events and context than signal-contingent sampling. The compliance rates showed that both sampling methods were feasible and acceptable. Although the findings from this study have gathered some insight on the consumption and context of OFD in young people, further studies are required to develop targeted interventions.