Data presented at the Council’s Annual Symposium for Dietary Supplement Industry indicated that 27% of consumers were ‘very confident’ in supplements in 2005, and that figure has now increased to 34%, despite negative media around the category. Those who are ‘somewhat confident’ in supplements has remained relatively stable over the last ten years, with 51% in 2005 and 50% in 2015 choosing that answer.
Americans have the most confidence in the ‘Vitamins & Minerals’ category (85%), according to the data.
When supplement users were asked if the effect of negative media has changed how they think, 33% responded that it had made them think differently. On the other hand, when asked if positive publicity had caused them to start taking supplements, 52% responded positively. And when asked if conflicting information was confusing them, 60% said yes.
Usage
The overall trend in supplement usage over the last 10 years has remained relatively stable, holding around 68%. Of these, 33% of these are regular and variety users.
The survey found that the ‘Vitamins & Minerals’ category has the highest usage compared to other categories. Between 2014 and 2015, usage of ‘Vitamins & Minerals’ and ‘Specialty Supplements’ remained consistent, whereas usage of ‘Herbals & Botanicals’ and ‘Sports Nutrition & Weight Management’ grew by 5% or more in 2015.
Also consistent with years past is the popularity of the multivitamin, which has the highest percentage of usage among supplement users, both male (79%) and female (77%), followed by vitamin D, vitamin C and calcium.
The survey found similar percentages of overall usage between men and women of younger generations; however, there appear to be larger gaps in overall usage between men and women of older generations, those considered ‘Boomers’ or ‘Elders’.
The 2015 CRN Consumer Survey on Dietary Supplements was conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs and was funded by CRN. The survey was conducted online in English and included a national sample of 2,016 adults aged 18 and older from Ipsos’ U.S. online panel. The survey has been conducted annually since 2000. The source of these population targets is U.S. Census 2014 American Community Survey data. The sample drawn for this study reflects fixed sample targets on demographics.
