6 out of 10 (60%) Irish people are regular purchasers of vitamins according to the latest Consumer Intelligence report by Empathy Research. Of the 980 survey participants, two-thirds (67%) of females buy vitamins as opposed to just over half (52%) of males. The region least likely to purchase vitamins was Connacht/Ulster (53%), while other regions were fairly consistent; Dublin (64%), rest of Leinster (62%) and Munster (59%).
When questioned on how often purchasers of vitamins ingest them, over half (52%) said everyday. Older age groups were more likely to take them frequently compared to younger age groups.
Just over half (51%) of the participants who buy vitamins said they do so from a supermarket, while 45% said they buy them from a pharmacy. Of those who buy from a supermarket, males (62%) were more prone to do so than females (44%). More females (49%) than males (38%) bought their vitamins at a pharmacy. Of the age groups, the least likely to buy vitamins from a pharmacy were the youngest, 18-24 year olds (30%). The other age groups were fairly consistent in their tendency to buy vitamins from pharmacies, with 50% of 25-34 year olds, 46% of 35-44 year olds and 44% of 45+ year olds saying they bought vitamins from a pharmacy.
Of all the survey participants, only a third (33%) said that they buy their vitamins from a health food store, but this was more likely if they were female (38%), than male (24%). People without children were far more likely to buy vitamins from a health store (38%), than those with children (28%). Just 6% of respondents buy their vitamins online, with those aged 18-24 most likely (13%) to do so of all the groups, compared to 5% of 25-34 and 35-44 year olds, and 6% of 45+ year olds.
When it comes to brands vs. private label, most people (51%) said they only buy recognized vitamin brands, while 24% buy own brand or private label. More females (53%) than males (49%) would stick to only recognised brands. The older the shopper, the more likely they are to buy only recognised brands, 45+ (60%), 35-44 (47%), 25-34 (45%) and 18-24 (40%). Half of consumers said they would buy own brand vitamins if they were on offer.
Click here for more data from Empathy Research.
