The Perception of Dietary Supplements Among Consumers Engaged in Sports on a Regular Basis

Abstract

Inaccurate perceptions about body image can be identified not only among physically inactive people, but also among those doing sports on a regular basis. Corporate marketing communication further increases these uncertainties and doubts, thus the former readily become actual consumers of dietary supplements. The results of our primary research (n=737) describe the sports-related activities, attitudes, and segmentation of those regularly engaged in sports, including details about the dietary supplements market. Our results indicate that the group of people engaged in sports on a regular basis is far from homogeneous. As many as 56.4% of them generally have a positive attitude towards dietary supplements, and constitute the potential consumers of this product range. Opinion leaders (coaches), reference groups, and word-of-mouth advertising (fellow sportspeople) were found to play the key role in the choice of dietary supplements.