Dietary supplements market - Who buys supplements and why

The dietary supplement market is a fascinating place to learn human behavior. But who is the target audience for supplements?

Most of the health supplement entrepreneurs that become our clients all have similar stories.

At some point, they or a loved one of theirs, have experienced some illness or health condition.

Many of them first sought out medical doctors for help but quickly learned they were just treating symptoms.

This lead to ultimately discovering a solution that gets to the root cause of the problem. Which ultimately leads them to start their own health supplement company and help others as a direct outcome.

Generally, people don’t need a life-changing event to start taking supplements. The use of dietary supplements as a regular part of a healthy routine has grown among Americans according to the Council for Responsible Nutrition.

Since the 1970’s there has been a 40% increase in supplement use in adults over 50 years old.

And a 23% increase in supplement use in adults under 50.

While that seems like a big increase in the last 30 years. It is really the creation of the multivitamin market that has really pushed the overall consumption rates up.

This can be attributed to the mainstream marketing of such vitamins since the 1970s.

But, if we normalize for the multivitamin market, that drops the use of health supplements down to just over 10% of the U.S.A population.

Still a sizable market. But how does that break down?

Dietary Supplement Market Findings

Our research into the health industry allows us to continually study customer patterns and motivations when it comes to health product purchases online.

But we also look to outside sources like the JAMA Internal Medicine by Reagan L. Bailey and the Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health.

In which a recent study found that:

49% of U.S. adults take supplements
- 54% women
- 43% men
Supplement use increased with age
- 34% aged 20-39
- 50% age 40-59
- and 67% over age 60

Supplement use is higher for those with health insurance
- 53% of those with health insurance
- as compared to 31% without
Supplement use parallels reported exercise habits
- from low 43%
- to moderate 54%
- to high 56%

Why Do People Take Dietary Supplements?

What interests us more, as a revenue optimization agency for the dietary supplement market, goes beyond usage correlation. We want to get to the root cause. What are the reasons why people take supplements in the first place?

According to a recent study, the top reasons people take dietary supplements are:

to feel better 41%
as a way to improve overall energy levels 41%
boost immune system 36%
for digestive issues 28%
to lower their cholesterol 21%

As the chart below indicates there is a higher amount of people who take an herbal supplement for a specific health issue.

Higher in fact than vitamins taken from a doctor’s recommendation.

What’s interesting is that the majority of people who take a dietary supplement want to feel better and improve their health.

That is, they believe dietary supplements will improve or maintain their health.

A substantial minority of people believe they are deficient either in foods or nutrients or both.

A Personal Choice Belief

Taking supplements and vitamins is a personal choice for the vast majority of people, not because of a doctor’s recommendation. Although doctor recommendations do contribute more to the use of vitamins in general, which may spark their journey down the rabbit hole of what to take.

This doesn’t account for the chronic care group who have a serious medical condition. For that group, the drive to take supplements is usually from the desire to get off of prescription medication and replace it with something more natural. This is a different motivator altogether and a sub-segment of the marketplace.

The belief that dietary supplements will improve or maintain health is in agreement with our findings on the research of several of our dietary supplement clients. That belief is a major factor in their use of supplements.

Our research findings support that our personal beliefs define the decisions we make and shape our lives. They determine how we feel, what we think, the goals we pursue, and even what we buy.

Decisions are made according to the assumptions we believe and our beliefs shape our actions. But we must decide before we can act and that decision comes out of belief.

When people buy your health products, like a medical device such as a brace for your knee or a natural health supplement for high blood pressure, what matters most is your prospect’s belief system.

The buyers in the Health markets are unique because prospects have to believe before they can buy.

The people that buy health products, including a bottle of supplements, are not buying a solution as much as they are reassuring their inner belief of health. This is a key distinctive piece of the health buying decision that does not exist when buying any other product.

Getting To The Underlying Root Cause

Knowing the underlying reasons why people take supplements aids in improving health supplement sales online for our clients.

Do motivations to improve health cause people to take dietary supplements? Or do people develop motivations to justify taking the supplements?

The answer is both at the same time.

Motivation for any change in health is always a mixed bag.

Some people first get into the habit of taking supplements daily, usually from an external or internal force, and then find reasons to justify their behavior.

When working to improve the revenue of our health clients we consider both external social influence as well as internal forces to influence the behavior of dietary supplement use and consumption.

Motivations for use vary greatly by demographics, health status, and openness to new ideas.

The bottom line is, some people are more ready to make dietary supplements a habit than others.