Conclusions
This randomized trial found that pictorial SSB warnings reduced parents’ purchases of SSBs for their children by making parents think SSBs are less healthful for their children and changing parents’ intentions about serving SSBs. These results stand in contrast to prior studies showing that message reactions explain the impact of warnings on adults’ SSB purchases for themselves, and suggest that different mechanisms may underly warning effects for parents purchasing for their children compared to adults purchasing drinks for themselves. Warnings and other communications approaches targeting healthfulness perceptions and intentions may be particularly effective for reducing parents’ purchases of SSBs for their children.