Information signals impacting perceptions of gluten-free diets

Understanding how people assimilate different types of information for food choices is integral to improving knowledge about diet and human health. This study evaluates the impact that ten information signals have on the perceived healthiness of gluten. Signals include non-social signals like personal eating experiences, scientific studies, and advice from doctors, but also includes social signals like recommendations from attractive people, social media, the layout of a grocery store, and celebrities. In a survey of over 1,000 Americans, advice from an attractive person is thought to have a slightly larger impact than reading about a new study regarding gluten, and seeing a grocery store develop a new gluten-free section has a larger impact than learning a celebrity consumes a gluten-free diet.

Methods
To measure the perceived impact social signals about gluten are perceived to have on other people, an internet survey of over 1,500 Americans is conducted where respondents are given a list of social signals and are asked to rate the impact that signal will have on perceptions of gluten-free diets. The survey was conducted in the fall of 2019 using a sample acquired by Qualtrics.