Consumption of supplements
August 2024
Data from the first survey period of the 100 Healthy Days Survey, in general, show that for the Italians and Danes interviewed, ‘healthy lifestyle’ has a positive meaning and is mostly associated with health, balance, well-being.
Focusing on supplements, it emerges that about 24% of the total respondents in Italy and Denmark links taking supplements to a healthy lifestyle choice. Therefore, taking supplements is a choice related to feeling good, an aid to well-being. This finding expresses the respondents' so-called ‘approach’, i.e. it is an expression of their thinking.
Specifically, about 21% of people in Italy and 33% in Denmark make this association. In Italy, with about 24%, it is mostly the Young (30-39 years) who see the choice of supplement use as denoting a healthy lifestyle, whereas in Denmark this view is shared by 37% of those in the 40-55 age group.
These data indicate the differences in ‘approach’ by age that the two countries present: in Italy, it is adopted by young people, i.e. those who search for information mainly online and who have a more ‘global’ approach to topics; in Denmark, on the other hand, it is the people in the larger, less young, less internet-savvy target group, who gather information more from real evidence than from the digital channel.
Regarding the 100 Healthy Days Survey data referring to choice, i.e. purchase, when asked whether in the last 100 days respondents had taken supplements as a conscious healthy lifestyle choice, 18.8% of the total answered in the affirmative.
Looking at the data by country, in Italy only 17% answered that they had taken supplements, compared to 25% in Denmark, showing that in both countries there is a fairly important difference between perceived and chosen.
In Italy, the most responsive target group – i.e. people who have chosen to use supplements – is the Contemporary and Young, and thus covers an age range of 30 to 55 years, involving older consumers than observed in the approach. And also in Denmark there is a shift in the age of ‘choice’: the target group involved is, in fact, the Contemporary and Silver, thus the 40 to over 56 age group.
In Italy, more than half of the respondents said they had been taking supplements for 3 years or less, while in Denmark 63% said they had been using supplements for a long time, more than 3 years.
It is clear from the data of the 100 Healthy Days Survey that Italy is relatively ‘younger in experience’ than Denmark in both approach and choice of taking supplements.
This is probably explained by the Italian cultural approach, which has always associated the meaning of ‘healthy lifestyle’ with other choices, closer to the habits – especially dietary ones – attested in the Belpaese.
The data, however, also tell us that Italy represents an opportunity for the supplements market in terms of both culture (information) and target audience.
In both countries, similar market opportunities have emerged, aimed at the specifics of different targets. On the one hand, the possibility of opening a direct and ad hoc dialogue with younger people, who generally associate healthy lifestyle with health and, therefore, could attribute to the intake of supplements a beneficial effect in line with their priorities. And on the other hand, the possibility of creating a new dialogue with older consumers in terms of age, i.e. those who generally have a greater propensity to spend and are very attentive to wellness in general.
In Denmark, in particular, more attention can be given to the future Silver, who will tend to have a lot of time to devote to themselves, as they will work less or not at all.