In food and drink, the most commercially valuable insights often sit behind a social filter. When people talk about what they eat, how they feel about their bodies or why a diet failed, they rarely speak as freely as they live. For brands trying to build products and messages that hit the mark in the real world, this gap between stated behaviour and real behaviour can be costly.
AI-powered tools are changing that. Not simply by making qualitative research faster but by creating a space where anonymity and non-judgement dismantle social desirability bias.
In practice, that means consumers are more willing to share the messy, emotional, contradictory realities of eating and wellness that traditional interviews struggle to reach, writes Hakan Yurdakul, CEO, Bolt Insight. Why anonymity matters more than ever
Social desirability bias has always distorted food and health research. People downplay indulgence and soften failure because food choices are tied to identity. Eating habits signal discipline, status, morality and self-worth, especially in cultures where wellness is publicly performed online.
With AI-moderated conversations, that pressure drops. Participants know they are not being watched, assessed or silently judged by another person. The interaction feels private, neutral and emotionally safer. As a result, the stories become more human and more commercially useful, not what people think they should say…but what they actually feel and do.
For insight professionals, this is not a small methodological improvement. It is a different psychological environment, one that is better suited to sensitive categories such as weight management, body confidence, binge cycles, dieting fatigue and shame linked to “unhealthy” foods.
When AI becomes a trusted listener
Consumers are increasingly using AI in their everyday lives to talk through personal problems, organise routines and seek reassurance. This normalises AI as a trusted listener not just a functional tool. That behavioural shift carries directly into research. Participants tend to open up more naturally to AI, especially when the conversation design makes privacy explicit.
AI-moderation also brings practical strengths: consistency across interviews and geographies, the ability to probe gently without leading and the flexibility for respondents to share in their own time. But the real value comes from how that neutrality reshapes honesty.
Spotlight on GLP 1 and the new emotional landscape of eating
Bolt Insight recently explored GLP 1 medications through an AI moderated qualitative study on BoltChatAI, designed to understand how these drugs are reshaping people’s relationships with food, body image and self-worth. What emerged was not a simple weight loss narrative but a far more emotionally layered story… one that AI anonymity was uniquely able to surface without the usual pressure to self-edit.
Participants described GLP 1 not only as a way to lose weight but as a catalyst for identity change. Physical shifts were intertwined with social confidence, emotional relief and new anxieties, creating a push pull between empowerment and discomfort that many found hard to articulate in more traditional research settings.
Only then does the cultural momentum make full sense. Once a clinical story, GLP 1 has rapidly become a mainstream cultural one, accelerated by celebrity narratives and TikTok visibility. As one 28-year-old participant in Saudi Arabia put it, “I heard about it through celebrities on TikTok.”
Another respondent explained how weight loss altered her relationship with visibility and belonging. She moved from self-concealment to self-expression and from isolation to social connection. “I started wearing colours instead of black and checking my appearance in the mirror more. Before, I used to hate standing in front of it. I have friends now. Before, I didn’t have many relationships,” she shared.
Others described a complicated emotional duality: gratitude for a solution that worked, alongside guilt about how it might be perceived. “People say I took the easy way out, but they have no idea what I’ve been through,” said one participant. Another captured the same tension differently: “There’s a weird shame in something that finally works.”
With AI anonymity in place, the conversation quickly moved past the polished narrative. Participants spoke candidly about fear of regain, uncertainty about long term safety and the stigma of “taking the easy way.” “Will I quickly regain weight?” one asked, while another reflected on the judgement attached to progress. That blend of relief and conflict is exactly what brands need to understand if they want to support consumers credibly through changing habits, not just sell into a trend.
Brands can’t afford to ignore how fast this movement is growing. In 2025, around 18 percent of US adults say they have tried a GLP 1 drug, and 12 percent report current use, about double the levels reported in 2024 (Mintel, March 2025). What matters for food and drink brands is not only how many people are using these drugs, but how they are reshaping relationships with food, appetite and social confidence.
From real stories to real strategy
This is the real shift AI-powered tools like BoltChatAI bring to food and wellness insight. By removing the social filter, it unlocks the emotional truths behind everyday eating that people often hold back in more traditional research.
AI helps those stories surface openly and at scale, while researchers bring the human context to interpret what is being said and why it matters. In a category where health, appetite and identity are shifting so quickly, that combination gives brands a sharper, more realistic view of consumers and a stronger base for credible innovation and communication.
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