Appendix D
Discussion guide
Out of Home Digital Food Promotions - Interview Discussion Guide V1
Notes for reviewers: This topic guide is designed to serve as an aide memoir to the researchers, while also remaining flexible to allow for issues to be raised spontaneously. Obvious probing and follow-up questions like ‘why?’, ‘why not?’, etc. are not included, but there is no need to add these – the researchers will probe, ask for explanation/clarification, and sum up at appropriate points.
Although the guide is generally written in the form of questions or explanations that could be read out exactly as written, in reality, the researcher will amend the wording, rephrase and reorder as appropriate and to make it feel more like a natural discussion rather than a questionnaire.
Blue highlight: information researchers need to note in advance having reviewed Indeemo responses/ videos.
Yellow highlight: Important points for researchers
1. Introduction and consent (5 mins)
Aim: to give an overview of the purpose of the interview and obtain informed consent before taking part, including consent for recording.
*Thank participant for taking the time to talk to you today and check that this is still a suitable time*
As you know, Food Standards Scotland has asked us, Ipsos Scotland (an independent research organisation) to conduct research into how people order food and drinks online. Thank you very much for completing your four weeks using Indeemo and screen recording your orders for this project so far. The purpose of this interview is for me to ask you about your experience when making specific orders during this project, including any offers you may have seen, as well as some more general questions ordering takeaway food and drink online. We’ll be referring to your screen recordings later in our conversation.
At the end of our research, we will write a report for Food Standards Scotland summarising the findings based on data from all 30 participants. It will not be possible for Food Standards Scotland, or anyone else who reads the report, to identify who you are. We may include quotes in the report, but these would be anonymous. Food Standards Scotland will not receive notes from individual interviews and no identifying information about you (e.g. names or contact details) will be seen by anyone outside of the research team (me and my colleagues at Ipsos).
The interview today will last about 1 hour, and FieldMouse will arrange for you to get the £40 as a thank you afterwards.
Participation is completely voluntary. You can just let me know if there are any questions you don’t want to answer, or if you want to stop the interview at any point. You are also able to withdraw from the research completely, until the findings are written up in December.
I would like to audio record this discussion so that we can listen back to it and take notes, and make sure we have understood everything correctly. The recording will not be shared outside the research team at Ipsos. It will be securely stored and will be destroyed three months after we have completed the research project.
Do I have your permission to record?
If yes: Turn on the recorder and record consent to take part and for the discussion to be recorded.
Do you have any questions before we begin? Are you happy to proceed?
2. Lifestyle / context questions (5 mins)
Aim: To warm up participants and obtain some context around their food ordering behaviour
As you know, this project is about ordering takeaway food and drinks online. We’ll get onto talking about that in more detail but, before we do, I wanted to ask a few questions about your lifestyle and about food more generally.
What is a typical day like for you / your household? ADAPT IF THEY LIVE ALONE
And thinking about food shopping and making meals throughout the week, do you plan ahead much or is it more day to day?
Do you do a big weekly shop?
Who does most of the cooking in your house?
PROBE: How do you/they feel about it - how confident are you/they at cooking? Do you/they enjoy cooking?
How much would you say your decisions around food are based on financial considerations?
PROBE: Has your approach to meals changed at all due to recent rises in the cost of living?
IF YES, PROBE FULLY: in what ways?
3. Questions about specific Indeemo orders (30 mins)
Aim: To go through each order (or a select number) and explore what influenced their responses to any offers in the app/website
Note for reviewers: number of orders we cover will vary, depending on what we see when we review all of their videos / how they respond to offers. We will explore the different ways they reacted to offers on different occasions if that is the case.
SELECT 2-3 ORDERS IN ADVANCE TO TALK THROUGH –WITH PROMOTIONS PRESENT, AND IF POSSIBLE, DIFFERENT REACTIONS TO THEM – I.E. ORDERED MORE / DID NOT ORDER MORE
I’m now going to go through some takeaway orders you made to ask you some more detailed questions about them.
ORDER 1 -
Let’s start with when you ordered from [OUTLET] last week – on [DAY AND TIME]. If there is anything you feel you really can’t answer because you can’t remember, please do just say.
Offers before they went into the app:
You said [REASON/S] was why you decided to order then – can you tell me a bit more about that? USE MAIN REASON HERE, BUT MENTION MORE IF 2/3 EQUALLY IMPORTANT
IF AN OFFER IS MENTIONED, ASK: What kind of offer was it? Who was it from? And how did you hear about it?
USE PROMPTS BELOW IF NEEDED TO CLARIFY WHAT TYPE OF OFFER IT WAS. ENCOURAGE TO CHECK BACK TO TEXTS/EMAILS FOR ACCURACY.
- Meal deals (get 2 or 3 things for a lower price)
- Other type of multibuy offer (e.g. buy an item and get another item free or for less)
- Discount after a certain number of orders
- Discount if you spend a certain amount
- Temporary offer (e.g. lower price on an item for limited time)
- Free or cheaper delivery
- Loyalty card or reward scheme
- Free item
- Unlimited free delivery with a subscription
- Products (e.g. new menu items) being promoted
- Any other kind of offer
How long before ordering did you receive it?
And can I check, was the offer for the place you ended up ordering from or did it just give you the idea to order a takeaway?
IF YES: And did you end up making use of the specific offer in your order?
IF YES: Do you know if it had to be used within a certain time period?
- And did that make any difference to your decision to order on that day?
Would you have still ordered a takeaway that day if you hadn’t [received this text/email/seen this advertisement etc]?
IF NO: What plans, if any, did you have for that meal?
- What do you think you would you have done instead?
IF YES: Did the offer change where you ordered from?
IF YES: Where would you have ordered from instead?
IF PARTICIPANT DOES NOT MENTION AN OFFER:
Do you remember seeing any advertising or offers for this app/restaurant before you ordered? Did this affect your decision to order? PROBE FULLY / DETAILS OF WHAT THEY SAW AND PERCEIVED INFLUENCE ON THEM
Experience in the app:
Note for reviewers: The exact structure will be adjusted before each interview to take into account the actual stages of their ordering journey.
Note for interviewers: All types of marketing strategies and offers in the screen recording should be explored:
- Price
- Upselling
- Upsizing
- Product placement
- Promotion of specific products
*Interviewer to share screen recording of the order on their screen*
Talk me through your decision process at the time. We’ll start from the very beginning.
Did you already have an idea of what you wanted to order before you began browsing?
And is this what you ended up ordering or did you change your mind as you ordered?
- The homepage:
What were you thinking at this stage?
IF ANY OFFERS VISIBLE ON HOME SCREEN: Did you notice any of the offers?
Did any of the offers appeal to you?
TAILOR QUESTIONS DEPENDING ON WHAT OFFERS PRESENT AND WHETHER THEY USED THEM
- Which ones and why?
- Did you know in advance that that offer would be on? And did you plan to use it? [Ask if not covered in offers before app section]
- And why did you go/not go for that offer? [CHECK IN ADVANCE]
IF THEY USED THE OFFER PROBE:
- Do you usually go for this type of offer / had you done it before?
- Did you think it was good value for money?
- Did it influence how much you ordered?
IF THEY DID NOT USE THE OFFER PROBE:
- Have you gone for this type of offer on other occasions?
- What was different this time?
REPEAT CORE QUESTIONS ABOVE FOR NEXT STAGES:
- Browsing / adding items stage
What were you thinking at this stage?
Why did you [REMOVE SOMETHING / ADD SOMETHING / KEEP WHAT YOU HAD]?
- IF ANY OFFERS VISIBLE ON OTHER PARTS OF THE WEBSITE/APP: ASK QUESTIONS AS ABOVE FROM ‘Did you notice any of the offers?…’
- Checkout / basket stage
What were you thinking at this stage?
Why did you [REMOVE SOMETHING / ADD SOMETHING / KEEP WHAT YOU HAD]?
- IF ANY OFFERS VISIBLE AT BASKET/CHECKOUT: ASK QUESTIONS AS ABOVE FROM ‘Did you notice any of the offers?…’
- IF APPLICABLE: Did you notice any messages asking if you were sure you didn’t want to add any [TAILOR AS APPROPRIATE]?
IF THEY ADDED THE ITEM/S PROBE:
- Do you usually add extra items at the end if you are / had you done it before?
- In this case, was it because you had intended to order these items but forgotten or did it encourage you to order extra?
IF THEY DID NOT ADD THE ITEM/S PROBE:
- Have you added extra items at the end on other occasions?
- What was different this time?
What were the main factors in your final decision of what to order?
PROBE: Price? Taste? Had it previously and enjoyed? Quantity e.g. if ordering for multiple people? Offer?
Did you order the right amount of food/drink? EXPLORE VIEWS ON WHETHER THEY HAD TOO MUCH / TOO LITTLE, WHETHER THEY ORDERED WITH THE INTENTION OF HAVING LEFTOVERS/WHAT HAPPENED TO LEFTOVERS
Overall, did offers in the app/website influence the food/drink you ordered?
IF YES: Did they mean you ordered…? PROBE FULLY ON EACH
- Different types of foods/drinks?
- Larger portions?
- A greater number of food/drink items?
IF NO:
- Have offers influenced this on other occasions? In what way?
- What was different this time?
IF NOT ALREADY COVERED: Did any advertising or offers you saw before you ordered influence the food/drink you ordered?
IF YES: Did they mean you ordered…? PROBE FULLY ON EACH
- Different types of foods/drinks?
- Larger portions?
- A greater number of food/drink items?
ASK IF NOT KNOWN FROM INDEEMO: Did you finish all of the food you ordered?
IF NO, PROBE: What did you do with the leftovers?
ORDER 2 -
Moving onto this order from [OUTLET] on [DAY AND TIME]. [IF NEEDED] Again, if there is anything you feel you really can’t answer because you can’t remember, please do just say.
REPEAT QUESTIONS FROM ORDER 1 FOR ORDER 2
ORDER 3 -
And now this order from [OUTLET] on [DAY AND TIME]. [IF NEEDED] Again, if there is anything you feel you really can’t answer because you can’t remember, please do just say.
REPEAT QUESTIONS FROM ORDER 1 FOR ORDER 3
4. Views on ordering from OOH and the role of offers (c. 13 mins)
Aim: To understand how they see / describe their ordering behaviours, some context around reason for ordering, and how much they offers influence their behaviours
Note for reviewers: note that some parts of this section may have come up naturally during the Indeemo section. Prioritise questions based on what we have less information on.
Moving on now to some more general questions about ordering food online…
And just as a reminder, for the purposes of this interview we are interested in takeaway meals, snacks and drinks ordered online, rather than groceries from supermarkets or convenience stores. So, this is what I am referring to when I say “takeaways”.
General ordering behaviours:
Are there particular days, times of the week or occasions where you are more likely to order takeaways?
PROBE: Certain occasions? Times of the week? When feeling a certain way? On their own vs. with other people?
I see from your uploads to the app that you tended to order X times a week during those four weeks. Is that a typical number of orders for you in a week?
If not, PROBE: what has influenced/tends to influence it?
EXPLORE WHETHER THE FREQUENCY CHANGES, WHY AND NOTE / EXPLORE ANY OFFERS MENTIONED
And I see from the app that you mentioned [INSERT FREQUENTLY MENTIONED REASON/S] was/were the main reason you tend to order – can you tell me a little more about that?
PROBE: is that the main reason? do offers come into play at all? If so, what kinds and what is it about them that motivate you to order?
I can also see that you like to order from [INSERT WEBSITE/APP] – why do you choose them?
PROBE FULLY FOR REASONS, AND NOTE / EXPLORE ANY OFFERS MENTIONED
Perceptions of offers:
Of the various types of offers takeaways and restaurants have, are there any specific types that encourage you to order more often than you otherwise would?
GET SPONTAENOUS ANSWER, AND THEN PROMPTED ANSWER BY SHOWING THIS LIST:
- Meal deals (get 2 or 3 things for a lower price)
- Other type of multibuy offer (e.g. buy an item and get another item free or for less)
- Discount after a certain number of orders
- Discount if you spend a certain amount
- Temporary offer (e.g. lower price on an item for limited time)
- Free or cheaper delivery
- Loyalty card or reward scheme
- Free item
- Unlimited free delivery with a subscription
- Any other kind of offer
PROBE FOR WHAT APPEALS ABOUT CERTAIN OFFERS / ANYTHING OFF-PUTTING ABOUT OTHERS?
And are there any that encourage you to order more items – either larger portions or more or different items – than you otherwise would?
GET SPONTAENOUS ANSWER, AND THEN PROMPTED ANSWER BY SHOWING THIS LIST:
- Meal deals (get 2 or 3 things for a lower price)
- Other type of multibuy offer (e.g. buy an item and get another item free or for less)
- Discount after a certain number of orders
- Discount if you spend a certain amount
- Temporary offer (e.g. lower price on an item for limited time)
- Free or cheaper delivery
- Loyalty card or reward scheme
- Free item
- Unlimited free delivery with a subscription
- Being asked if you want a larger size
- Being asked if you want to add additional items (e.g. fries with a burger)
- Being asked at the checkout if you would like to add anything else
- Products (e.g. new menu items) being promoted
- Any other kind of offer
Do you receive emails or texts from takeaway food outlets, apps or websites?
IF YES: from which restaurants/apps?
And do you have notifications turned on for takeaway apps?
PROBE: have they deliberately turned them off / on?
IF DO RECEIVE THEM: from which restaurants/apps?
IF THEY RECEIVE TEXT/EMAILS/NOTIFICATIONS: I’m going to ask a few more questions about emails, text and notifications now. If you could answer first about text and emails, and then about notifications.
For texts and emails / for notifications (ADAPT IF THEY ONLY RECEIVE ONE/TWO OF THESE):
Roughly how often would you say you receive these?
- And have you noticed if these come at any particular times during the week?
- Do you tend to open these and read the content?
- Do they usually contain offers?
- Do you like or dislike receiving them?
Do these types of notification ever prompt you to order when you weren’t planning to?
IF YES: do you always take up that offer or does it just ‘plant the seed’ more generally for you to order a takeaway?
And do they ever prompt you to order more food than you would have ordered otherwise?
- More items?
- Different items?
- Larger portion sizes?
Can you remember seeing any other advertising for [OOH BRANDS THEY USUALLY ORDER FROM] recently?
PROBE FULLY:
- What have you seen? And when? NOTE WHETHER ADVERTISING OR AN OFFER
- What did you think of this?
Does it ever prompt you to order when you weren’t planning to?
And does it ever prompt you to order more than you would have offered otherwise?
- More items?
- Different items?
- Larger portion sizes?
Have you signed up to any loyalty schemes? PROBE FOR DETAILS OF WHAT OFFERS THEY GET
- Would you say this changes how often you use them?
- Do you think it changes how much you order?
- Extra items?
- Different items?
- Larger portion sizes?
IF NOT COVERED ALREADY: Does being able to get free or cheap delivery mean that you order more often than you otherwise would or does it make no difference?
5. Wrapping up (2 mins)
That’s all the questions I wanted to ask you today. Is there anything else you would like to add? Any other thoughts about ordering takeaway food and drink online?
Thanks very much for being involved in this research. Now we’ve gone through all our questions, I wanted to let you know a bit more about the purpose of the research. As you know, we’ve been interested in understanding your experience of ordering takeaway food/drink online and what sort of offers you saw. As part of our analysis, we’ll be looking overall at whether offers resulted in people ordering more often or more food than they might have otherwise done. We weren't able to explain this to you at the beginning as it might have affected what you ordered. The findings from this research will help Food Standards Scotland with their work to inform policy and improve public health. I want to reiterate that it will not be possible for Food Standards Scotland, or anyone else who reads the report, to identify anyone who took part.
If you would like, we can send you a link to the report when it is published? YES / NO
MARK IN SAMPLE SPREADSHEET
Thanks again for your time today and over the past few weeks, we hope you’ve found it interesting.