title: Effectiveness and efficiency of different shapes of food guides.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the influence of a food guide's shape on its effectiveness and efficiency to convey nutritional information.
  
  
  METHODS
  A between-subjects experiment was conducted by manipulating the graph's shape (circle, pyramid, or rainbow). Nutrition tasks were used to assess the effectiveness and eye-movement data (number/duration of fixations) to examine the efficiency of the formats. The data were quantitatively analyzed (chi-square, ANOVA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no overall differences between the formats regarding effectiveness and efficiency. However, there were differences between the formats in effectiveness regarding 3 of the 5 nutrition tasks (χ(2)s ≥ 7.044, Ps < .05). Furthermore, viewers' attention was drawn to different parts of the graph, depending on the format.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that choosing different formats for practical nutrition communication does not play a major role in effectiveness or efficiency of this communication. However, different parts of the graph are more salient in various food guide formats.
authors.affiliation: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Institute for Environmental Decisions, Consumer Behavior, Zurich, Switzerland. hessr@ethz.ch
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hess
authors.forename: Vivianne H M
authors.initials: VH
authors.lastname: Visschers
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Siegrist
mesh_terms: D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D052756:Nutritional Sciences / Q000193:education*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards