Abstract:

The paper describes a qualitative research project on sugar which was carried out in Italy in 1982. In the years immediately prior to the survey overall sugar sales in Italy had begun to decline slightly while the product had been acquiring negative implications. The goals of the survey were the following: a) a determination of the real factors giving rise to attitudes of suspicion and even fear of sugar; b) the identification of the "reasons-why" that would prove effective in reversing the negative image that sugar had acquired. The research was conducted using various methods: a) traditional clinical interviews b) specialised interviews c) psychodrama groups d) interviews using semi-structured questionnaires. The data obtained included a broad range of materials useful to the Association of Sugar Producers in building up a communicational campaign. The results of this campaign were then evaluated in a further research effort that was carried out in two separate phases.