Abstract
Little is known about the attitudes and perceptions towards dietary sugars in Canadian adults. The objective of this study was to use rule-developing experimentation (RDE) to identify consumer mindsets related to dietary sugars in 18–50-year-old Canadians. Following an isomorphic permuted experimental design, participants (n = 269) each rated a unique set of 24 scenarios, each consisting of a distinct mixture of two to four messages about dietary sugars on a 5-point scale. A regression model was created for each respondent, identifying the value that each respondent attributed to each of the 16 messages. K-means clustering revealed three distinct mindset groups as follows: “Sugars Beliefs” (MS1), “Trend Analysts” (MS2), and “Health Seekers” (MS3). In conclusion, this study found that RDE is a useful methodological approach for evaluating how consumers think about dietary sugars and revealed mindset-specific messages that matter most to people who differ in their attitudes toward sugars.