THAI CONSUMERS TOP THE WORLD IN CONSUMING VITAMIN/DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS MAIN REASON FOR CONSUMPTION IS TO BOOST IMMUNE SYSTEM

Thai consumers top the world as the biggest consumers of Vitamin/Dietary Supplements, with 66 percent claiming to use them and half (33%) using them on a daily basis. The survey, conducted by The Nielsen Company, was undertaken online across 52 countries and highlights the importance of Vitamins & Dietary Supplements to the lives of people around the world. Across the world, the highest levels of usage were recorded in Thailand and the Philippines (66%) followed by Lithuania (59%), Taiwan and the USA (56%). Usage was found to be more prevalent in North America and Asian countries than in Europe and Latin America. (Table 1) Even though Thai consumers ranked first in the world in terms of consumption, the Nielsen survey found only 33 percent of users consumed Vitamins & Dietary Supplements on a daily basis, followed by “2-6 times a week” and “less often than once a month” (16%) and “once a week “and “2-3 times a month” (13%). In Asia Pacific, the highest percentage of those who claimed daily usage are from Australia (73%), followed by New Zealand and Singapore (67%) respectively. Globally, Denmark tops the global ranking with 81 percent of all users claiming to use Vitamins and Dietary Supplement products everyday, followed closely by Norway (80%) and USA (79%). “Regional considerations play an important role with Vitamins & Dietary Supplement products. Looking at those consumers who claim to use the products, it is clear that daily usage is more focused on the more developed economies of Western Europe & North America, with most Asian and Middle Eastern markets showing more infrequent usage,” said Sureerat Wongtrangan, Executive Director of Consumer Research, Nielsen Thailand. The Reason for Consuming Vitamin and Dietary Supplement Products The primary benefit that consumers globally expect from their usage is a boost to their immune system. Over 60 percent of consumers choose this option globally and 39 out of 52 countries have this as their top response. Similar to Thai consumers, the order of importance of reasons for taking Vitamin and Dietary Supplement products are “to get a boost to their immune system” (52%), “to cover for a known diet deficiency (50%) and "to ensure my diet is balanced" (43%). The role of healthcare professionals and doctors in driving usage of Vitamins & Dietary Supplements is relatively low in Thailand, with only four percent of product users convinced by their pharmacist or health food retailer and nine percent claiming to use because of doctor’s advice. It is interesting to note that the top response of 62 percent in the United States was "to ensure my diet is balanced". This reflects the consumption pattern in the US, where multi-vitamin products are given heavy marketing support and Americans use the products to offset poor diets. The only other country to achieve a 60 percent level of response for this option was Japan. The Reason for Not Consuming Vitamin and Dietary Supplement Products The survey also explored the reasons why respondents did not use Vitamins & Dietary Supplement products, providing a range of options to choose from. More than half of Thai respondents said they did not see any need for them (56%). The other top reasons for not using them were that they believe “they already have a balanced diet” and “the products are too expensive” (same 49%). (Table4)

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