THE EXAMINATION OF THAI CONSUMERS’

ATTITUDES TOWARDS DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS

PRODUCTS AND HOW THE USE OF CELEBRITY

ENDORSEMENTS HAS IMPACTS ON THAI

CONSUMERS

BY

MISS SURISA KHAJOHNVEERAPHAN

AN INDEPENDENT STUDY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL

FULFILLMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF SCIENCE PROGRAM IN MARKETING

(INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM)

FACULTY OF COMMERCE AND ACCOUNTANCY

THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY

ACADEMIC YEAR 2014

COPYRIGHT OF THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY

THE EXAMINATION OF THAI CONSUMERS’

ATTITUDES TOWARDS DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS

PRODUCTS AND HOW THE USE OF CELEBRITY

ENDORSEMENTS HAS IMPACTS ON THAI

CONSUMERS

BY

MISS SURISA KHAJOHNVEERAPHAN

AN INDEPENDENT STUDY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL

FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE

OF MASTER OF SCIENCE PROGRAM IN MARKETING

(INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM)

FACULTY OF COMMERCE AND ACCOUNTANCY

THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY

ACADEMIC YEAR 2014

COPYRIGHT OF THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY

(2)

Thesis Title The Examination of Thai Consumers ‘Attitudes

towards Dietary Supplements Products and How

the Use of Celebrity Endorsements has Impacts

on Thai Consumers

Author Miss Surisa Khajohnveeraphan

Degree Master of Science Program in Marketing

(International Program)

Major Field/Faculty/University Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy

Thammasat University

Independent Study Advisor Professor K. Douglas Hoffman, Ph.D.

Academic Years 2014

ABSTRACT

This study pertains to a contemporary topic in applied marketing as it pertains to

health issues in Thailand. The purpose of this study is to examine and understand how

Thai consumers think, feel, reason toward purchasing and taking beauty dietary

supplements and related products. The study offers insight into how the use of

marketing communication such as celebrity endorsements has influences on Thai

consumers in purchasing dietary supplement products. A total of 230 respondents

whose age between 18-42 years old and divided into those who take dietary

supplements (n=154) and those who do not take dietary supplements (n=76). Most of

non-consumers stated that dietary supplements consumption is waste and perceived

that it is unnecessary to consume. Most women are taking dietary supplements for

health and well-being and beauty, while top purpose for men is to build muscle. In

term of attitudes, most of consumers agree that consuming dietary supplements help

them have a healthy life, not harmful to health, and help them feel brighter and less

fatigue from work. Both male and female consumers show no statistically different in

attitudes toward celebrity endorsements. The result of this study will reveal significant

information to business which could be beneficial to the beauty supplement vitamin

companies in terms of product and marketing strategies as they could understand what

factors could be influenced on consumer’s purchasing.

Keywords: Dietary supplements, celebrity endorsements, supplement products

(3)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would like to take this opportunity to express deep gratitude to those who

gave all the supports during the time that I have conducted this Independent Study. I

am heartily grateful to my dearest advisor, Prof. Dr. K. Douglas Hoffman, for his

valuable advices. His guidance and recommendations have encouraged me to be able

to finish this report. Additionally, I would like to thank you all of my respondents in

this research, who have sacrificed their time to provide the answers in both in-depth

interviews and questionnaires.

I also wish to express my appreciation to the Master’s Degree Program in Marketing

(MIM Program), MIM Director, all MIM Professors as well as MIM Offices for your

supports and opportunity to be a part of MIM family.

Last but not least, I would like to give my regards and blessing to all of my family

members who always gave me the encouragement and full support during my time in

the university and special thanks to all the classmates from MIM27 whom I have

shared the time both ups and downs throughout the whole program.

Miss Surisa Khajohnveeraphan

(4)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ABSTRACT (2)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (3)

LIST OF TABLES (6)

LIST OF FIGURES (7)

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Key objectives 3

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 4

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 7

Research design 7

3.1 Exploratory research 7

Desk research 7

In-depth interview 7

3.2 Descriptive Research 8

Questionnaire survey 8

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 12

4.1 Key Findings 13

(5)

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 27

REFERENCES 29

APPENDIX 31

BIOGRAPHY 38

(6)

LIST OF TABLES

Tables Page

4.1 Summary of Respondents’ Demographics (n=154) 13

4.2 Summary of Respondents' Gender and Reasons to consume dietary supplements

14

4.3 Crosstab Gender x Reasons to consume dietary supplements 15

4.4 Monthly income x Reasons to consume dietary supplement products 16

4.5 Mean scores for 'Products' 18

4.6 Gender differences on 'Product' factors 19

4.7 Mean differences on 'Promotions' 20

4.8 Occupation x Frequency in purchasing dietary supplements 21

4.9 Spending x Monthly income 22

4.10 Gender differences on attitudes toward dietary supplement product 24

4.11 Gender differences on attitude toward the use of celebrity endorsements 26

(7)

LIST OF FIGURES

Figures Page

Figure 1 Frequency of Age and Reasons for dietary supplements consumption 17

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

The busy lifestyle that filled with stresses and haste every day in the big city

like Bangkok has made city people wish to have a good health and wellness. Stresses,

pollution, and fast food are the factors to be considered for city people to look after

themselves. Exercise could be a good solution for everyone. However, not everyone

could maintain the workout but still want to look and feel great about themselves.

Therefore, supplements and vitamins become a great alternative and play a significant

role for city people in Bangkok.

Health and wellness food industry have grown rapidly and still growing at

steadily rate in Thai market (Phuketnews, 2014). This includes the rising of anti-aging

trend as both men and women are trying at their best to make them look young and

healthy. According to Euromonitor, the total supplementary market in Thailand worth

36 billion baht, collagen supplement market alone is worth around 3 billion baht and

vitamin market continues to grow at two digit rate each year (Wilailuck, 2013).

Being young and attractive are what every women and men dreaming for.

However, we all know that they are slightly disappearing as the time passed by. This

encourages people willing to pay for whatever it takes to make them look and feel

young as much as possible. Women and men are no exception to this. According to

Bangkokpost news, Thai Euromonitor International 2011 report which has collected

by the National Food Institute mentioned that “global sales for health and wellness

products reached $627.5 billion in 2010 and the number is expected to grow over

$772 billion by 2015. In Thailand, according to the National Food Institute, consumer

expenditures on health and wellness foods worth 120 billion baht and 52 billion baht

have spent on consumer health food, which covers sports nutrition, vitamins and

dietary supplements, weight management, herbal/traditional products, allergy care and

child-specific consumer health products”. (Bangkokpost, 2012)

Because of this attractiveness, there are many new brands emerge in the

market and create great competitiveness among the beauty supplement vitamin

2

industry. Marketing activities become one of the key success factors for this industry

especially the use of celebrities’ endorsement. Therefore, it’s interested to understand

the motives of purchasing, the consumer insights toward beauty supplement vitamins

and the influences from marketing activities (celebrities’ endorsement).

This study will provide an understanding of how Thai consumers think, feel,

reason toward purchasing of the beauty supplement vitamins and offer insight into

how the use of marketing activities such as celebrities’ endorsement have impacts on

Thai consumers in purchasing of beauty dietary supplements and vitamins.

This research investigates a contemporary topic in applied marketing and thus

primary data will be used to determine Thai consumers’ attitudes and perceptions

toward beauty dietary supplements and vitamins and motivation to buy. The data will

be secondary data and primary data which are generated from the quantitative market

research. The target respondent is a group of consumers in Bangkok who take dietary

beauty dietary supplement vitamins and considered themselves as self-caring people

in terms of health conscious and skin conscious.

Thailand is among one of the Asian countries that put much value on

appearance. Research shows that body and facial image influence self-satisfaction and

self-esteem (Pisitsungkagarn, 2013). As the lifestyle in Thailand has also changes due

to the globalization, the food consumption also affected.

Consumers are therefore trying at their best to achieve an ideal body image of

being thin and attractive (Pisitsungkagarn, 2013). With this view of being slim,

Thailand’s health and wellness industry is continue to grow despite the economic

instability. According to the Phuket news, Thailand’s medicine, health food and

supplements market is valued at around 640 billion baht. Consumers are concerned

much about his or her physical appearance and frequently attempt to find alternatives

to improve his or her health and wellness (Pisitsungkagarn, 2013).

With such inviting opportunity, many new brands of beauty supplements

vitamins arise in the market and create fierce competition among the beauty dietary

supplement vitamins industry. Marketing communication through the use of celebrity

endorsement have been heavily use in this industry.

3

The purpose of this research is to understand the consumers insights on how

they think, feel, and the motives on the purchase of beauty dietary supplements

vitamins in which marketing communication such as celebrity endorsement have

impacts on the purchasing decision.

1.1 The key objectives are:

1). Consumer’s characteristics such as demographic, psychographics,

education, occupation and income.

2). Internal and external factors that influence their purchasing such as the

internal factors are individual’s values, attitude, lifestyles, and motivation. The

external factors are social trends, reference group, influencer, and marketing activities

(celebrities’ endorsement).

3). Attitudes toward the beauty dietary supplement vitamins and motives in

purchasing.

The scope of this research can be divided into the following:

1. Attitude of Thai consumers toward beauty dietary supplements and vitamins

and celebrity endorsements. This includes,

- To find the general opinions toward dietary supplements and vitamins.

- To determine the purposes from consuming beauty supplements and

vitamins.

- To identify consumers’ perceived benefits and concerns from consuming

beauty dietary supplements vitamins.

- To understand what the consumers look for when selecting beauty

supplements whether it is because of price, brand, ingredients contained,

place, and/or promotion.

- Does the marketing communication such as celebrity endorsement impact

them in purchasing, aside they want to improve and/or maintain their

health and well-being?

4

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

According to U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a dietary supplement is a

product that contains a "dietary ingredients" which intended to help supplement and

add nutritional diet. Dietary supplement can be found in variety forms such as tablets,

soft gels, capsules, liquids, and powders (FDA, 2015).

A study from Nielsen shows that 40 percent of consumers surveyed use

vitamins and dietary supplements with 54 percent from North Americans and 43

percent from Asians. The 2009 report by The Nielsen Company also indicated that

Thai consumers top the world as the biggest consumers of Vitamin/Dietary

Supplements, with 66 percent claiming to use them and half 33 percent using them on

a daily basis (Nielsen, 2009).

Thailand is one of the largest dietary supplement markets in Southeast Asia.

(Wai Mun Poon, 2009) and this becomes an interesting market to many dietary

supplement companies. It is vital to understand the nation's regulatory system and

framework in order to operate effective business and develop marketing strategies. In

Thailand, dietary or health supplement products are regulated by the Thai Food and

Drug Administration (FDA) of the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) and the

classification of these products depends on the types of ingredients used, daily

dosages and claims (Wai Mun Poon, 2009).

Recent studies (Wiwat, 2013; Mary, 2013; Euromonitor, 2014) have showed

that the trend for health and wellness in Thailand is rising and continue to grow in the

future. There are varieties of reasons behind the dietary supplement usages. The

increase in medical costs and personal healthcare service encourage people to seek for

alternative therapies such as self-treatment (Wiwat, 2013). Due to the busy lifestyles

of consumers, lack of time for rest and exercise, the other choices for them is dietary

supplements consumption to compensate the poor dietary habits. The studies

(Euromonitor, 2014; Mary, 2013) have recognized that by taking supplement products

would help prevent illness and prolong longevity.

5

According to the report, there were 3 main reasons for Thai consumers to take

vitamin and dietary supplement products. The Nielson survey found that the foremost

reason with 52 percent is “to get a boost to their immune system”, followed by 50

percent “to cover for a known diet deficiency”, and 43 percent is to “to ensure my diet

is balanced” (Nielson, 2009).

Celebrity endorsement is one of the major tools in marketing communications

strategy. A celebrity endorser is “an individual who enjoys public recognition and

who uses this recognition on behalf of a consumer good by appearing with it in an

advertisement” (McCracken, 1989, page 310). Celebrity endorsement advertising can

be explained as when using a well-known person to help promote a product or service

and support corporate or brand image through his or her fame. The celebrities are

used through various communication channels to market the product via television or

radio ads, large event appearances, social media, and so on. Most organizations use

celebrities in their marketing in hopes that it will drive up sales and have a positive

impact on profits (Seitz, 2006).

There are several benefits in using celebrity endorsements because a well

selected celebrity can draw great attention to a product or brand. As the book (Kotler

and Keller, 2012) states that the celebrity endorser should have “high recognition,

high positive affect, and high appropriateness or “fit” with the product”. Not only the

celebrities could play a significant role for the brands, but they could also help in

design, position, and sell products or services (Kotler and Keller, 2012). Moreover,

the uses of celebrity endorsers help enhance the attractiveness and attentiveness of the

advertisements to be more memorable, credible, desirable, and make the products

become more appealing. Celebrities also help the product or services stand out which

facilitate the communication between the companies and the consumers (Seitz, 2006).

Famous endorsers can be seen as the influential people because they draw

attention through the stream of messages and they are more entertaining and seen as

more trustworthy due to the lack of self-interest. Finally, most of the well-known

celebrities are perceived that they are persuaded by genuine affection for the brand or

the product not because they work for the endorsement fee (Seitz, 2006).

However, there are certain risks in using celebrities to endorse the products or

services. The celebrities could charge for high fee during contract renewal or

6

withdraw and they might lose fame and acceptance from the public or get caught in a

scandal situation which would affect the image and creditability of the brands and the

companies. Thus, it is vital to carefully select the celebrities and check their

backgrounds (Kotler and Keller, 2012).

For this study, the researcher is aimed to point out the attitudes of Thai

consumers on dietary supplement products consumption as well as the impacts on

using celebrity endorsements with dietary supplement products since there are very

few studies available.

7

CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research design

The research is conducted both qualitative and quantitative analysis, which they are

divided as following:

3.1 Exploratory research

The objective of exploratory research is to understand the underlying views and

characteristics of consumers towards beauty supplements vitamins as well as the

thoughts on using celebrity endorsement to promote and communicate the product

with consumers. Exploratory research includes the following:

Desk research

The secondary data that can be gathered from publishing and internet are used to see

the overview and trend of health and wellness industry in Thailand. Journals and

literature reviews are researched to explore the market growth and market size of

beauty dietary supplements and vitamins. The information gathered from secondary

data collection will help identify factors and variables for characteristics and insights

that could be useful for later analysis. Secondary data will be combined from several

sources including reports, articles, journals, literature reviews, and online websites.

In-depth interview

Depth interviews will be conducted to explore overview of attitudes and perceptions

of target groups, consumer expenditures and consumption on health care products

including dietary supplements and health care services, duration of consumption, and

effects on the purchasing from the use of brands’ celebrity endorsements. A total of 5

in-depth interviews will be conducted and the result of the interviews will be

8

evaluated and analyzed to obtain the key variables that could be in questionnaires

design in a subsequent researches.

3.2 Descriptive Research

A descriptive study is used in order to provide information about health status,

background, characteristics, and attitudes of a target group. The study is aimed to ask

specific and narrow questions and collect quantifiable data from target participants,

which then will be analyzed through the use of statistics.

Market survey through the use of online questionnaires will be used to collect the

data. Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) will be used

to interpret and analyze the data.

Questionnaire survey:

Questionnaire is a descriptive research and a mean to quantify the attitudes and

behaviors of consumers toward dietary supplement products consumption. Also it

helps examine the marketing mix as well as the marketing communication such as

celebrity endorsements that have impacts on the purchasing decision.

Part 1: Screening Questions

Respondent qualification

The qualified respondents were selected from below screening questions:

In-depth Interview Questionnaire

survey

Q.1: Female aged from 18 to 40

Ye Yes

Q.2: Do you consume any beauty

dietary supplements?

Yes No

Q.3: How long have you take beauty

dietary supplements?

Time period (within

1 week/month/year)

Time period (within

1 week/month/year)

9

To answer the research objectives, the questionnaires design were divided into 5 parts

in total:

P

Part 1

General behavior of dietary supplements

consumption

Nominal scale (Multiple

choices)

P

Part 2

Factors influence consumers’ intentions in selecting

beauty dietary supplements (in terms of 4Ps)

Interval scale (Likert

scales)

P

Part 3

Perception toward dietary supplement products

Interval scale (Likert

scales)

P

Part 4

Perception and attitude toward marketing activities

that used to promote and advertise the products

Interval scale (Likert

scales)

P

Part 5

Demographic profiles

Nominal Scale (Multiple

choices)

Target Group

Respondents and participants were selected by the non-probability sampling

technique. The following is the criteria in selecting the samples:

- Males/Females aged between 18-40 years old

- Consume dietary supplements vitamins

- Live in Bangkok area

The respondents were selected at convenience and easily accessible due to the time

limitation. While the in-depth interview respondents will be recruited to those who

take dietary supplements for various purposes such as for beauty, for weight

management, for maintain health, and for health improvement. There were female

respondents than male respondents and this could lead to the results in this study

toward females’ responses.

10

Data Collection

Data collection is done by following methods:

In-depth Interviews –

There are 5 in-depth interview respondents which selected from convenience

sampling method. These 5 respondents include both males and females who consume

beauty dietary supplements vitamins and related products.

Questionnaires -

Questionnaires will be distributed through field survey and online, where field survey

will be done by hand distribution to the respondents in area such as university, offices,

neighbors, and etc. Online questionnaires will be done by using the “Survey Monkey”

web page to distribute the electronic questionnaires. The questionnaires will be

distributed by convenience sampling with a total sample size of 160 data sets.

Data Analysis

In-depth interview -

The analysis of in-depth interview help yielding rich details and data about the

participants and some new insights that can be included in the questionnaires. Here

are some key main points from in-depth interviews:

- In the past, supplements and vitamins are used mainly to maintain health

and improve health. But today, respondents reveal that they take

supplements for appearance purpose such as skin brightening and weight

management.

- Some respondents mentioned that there is more than one kind of

supplements that they consume.

- Some respondents mentioned that advertisement have great influences on

purchasing the dietary supplements vitamins.

11

Questionnaires survey –

The analysis and interpretation of result derived from questionnaires were done by

using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). There are several approaches

that use to interpret the objectives of the study including Independent Sample T test,

Frequency analysis, Chi-square and Cross-tabulation, as well as One-Way ANOVA.

Each analysis method has different purpose in testing.

12

CHAPTER 4

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The key findings from significant testing using several approaches from Statistical

Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) are presented in this chapter. The statistics

that are using to test the hypotheses include in the base software such as Descriptive

statistics in order to perform Cross tabulation (chi-square), Frequencies; the Bivariate

statistics to do T-Test, Analysis of Variances (ANOVA); prediction for numerical

outcomes such as linear regression as well as cluster analysis (k-means) in order to

predict for identifying segmentation of consumers (SPSS, 2015). The 95% confidence

level is used for all significant testing throughout this research study.

Frequency is used to study the overview of respondents’ profiles by showing

the number of occurrences of each response and help calculate the mean, median and

mode. The independent-sample t-test is used to test whether there is statistically

difference in the means between two unrelated groups or not. The means of two

subgroups is significant different only when p-value is less than 0.05. Analysis of

Variances (ANOVA) helps to test the significance difference between two or more

groups, for example, testing on variables to compare between group of those who take

dietary supplement products for weight control, for muscle builder, and for health and

well-being. Chi-square and cross-tabulation are frequently use in this study in order

to determine the probability that the two qualitative variables are related. Lastly,

cluster analysis, which uses to identify market segments to see which groups of

consumers are similar to other groups, to understand competitive patterns and to test

market selection. There is no statistical test in this approach but rather to see the

distance among the group of people (Aaker, Kumar, Day, Leone, 2011).

13

4.1 Key Findings from Descriptive Research

Frequency Distribution of Independent Variables

Table 4.1 Summary of Respondents’ Demographics (n=154)

From the survey, the study has found that out of 154 total respondents there are more

female respondents (70.1 percent) that consume dietary supplement products than

male respondents (29.9 percent). While the proportion of target respondents ‘marital

status is about the same with the gender; 68.8 percent are single and 31.2% are

married. The majority of target respondents’ age between 28-32 years old (48.1

percent), about one-third age 33 years old and higher, and the rest age 27 years old or

lower. Most of target respondents have education background of Master degree or

higher (58.4 percent) and 40.3 percent have Bachelor degree.

Respondents' demographics N %

Gender Female 108 70.1%

Male 46 29.9%

Marital status Single 106 68.8%

Married 48 31.2%

Age 27 or lower 28 18.2%

28-32 74 48.1%

33 or higher 52 33.8%

Education Secondary school

/ Vocational

2 1.3%

Bachelor degree 62 40.3%

Master degree or

higher

90 58.4%

14

For weight

control

For health

and well-

being

For muscle

building

For beauty

purposes

% % % %

Gender Female 100.0% 73.7% 0.0% 88.9%

Male 0.0% 26.3% 100.0% 11.1%

What is your reason to consume dietary

supplements?

Table 4.2 Summary of Respondents' Gender and Reasons to consume dietary

supplements

Table 4.2 reports all of the female respondents consume dietary supplements ‘for

weight control’ purpose, whereas the male respondents consume dietary supplements

‘for muscle building’ purpose. The majority of females (73.7 percent) consume

dietary supplement ‘for health and well-being’ and 88.9 percent consume ‘for beauty

purposes’. While only 26.3 percent of male consume dietary supplements ‘for health

and well-being’ and 11.1 percent consume ‘for beauty purposes’.

15

Female Male

Count 8 0 8

% 7.4% 0.0% 5.2%

Count 84 30 114

% 77.8% 65.2% 74.0%

Count 0 14 14

% 0.0% 30.4% 9.1%

Count 16 2 18

% 14.8% 4.3% 11.7%

Count 108 46 154

% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

For beauty

purposes

Total

Reasons to

consume

dietary

supplementary

products

For weight

control

For health

and well-

beingFor muscle

building

Gender

Total

Table 4.3 Crosstab Gender x Reasons to consume dietary supplements

Table 4.3 uses Chi-square distribution to test whether there is a significant

relationship between the two observed variables or not. Among all four purposes, the

majorities of both female and male consumers take dietary supplement products for

health and well-being which corresponds with the Nielson report that the most of Thai

consumers take dietary supplements “to get a boost to their immune system”;

followed by beauty purposes of 14.8 percent (16/108), and 7.4 percent (8/108) for

weight control management. However, 30.4 percent (14/46) of male consumers want

to build muscle from dietary supplements consumption and 4.3 percent (2/46) for

beauty purposes. Pearson Chi-square is 39.988, p-value 0.001, thus it is concluded

that gender has significant relationship with reasons for dietary supplements

consumption.

16

Table 4.4 Monthly income x Reasons to consume dietary supplement products

Table 4.4 shows 8.7 percent (4/8) of consumers who earn 70k or higher want to

control weights, while consumers with 30,000 baht or lower have significantly higher

proportions than other groups to 90 percent (36/114). The consumers with monthly

income between 30k -70k are the muscle building group, whereas 29.4 percent

(10/18) put more concern on beauty and build-up of consumers’ age 28-32 years old

as shown in below Figure 1. The Pearson Chi-square value at 28.061, p-value 0.001

less than 0.05, hence, it can be concluded that there is a significant relationship

between level of monthly income and reason for dietary supplement consumption.

30000 baht

or below 30-50k 50-70k

70k or

higher

For weight

control

2 2 0 4 8

% 5.0% 5.9% 0.0% 8.7% 5.2%

For health

and well-

being

36 18 30 30 114

% 90.0% 52.9% 88.2% 65.2% 74.0%

For muscle

building

2 4 4 4 14

% 5.0% 11.8% 11.8% 8.7% 9.1%

For beauty

purposes

0 10 0 8 18

% 0.0% 29.4% 0.0% 17.4% 11.7%

40 34 34 46 154

% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Monthly Income

Total

Total

Reasons to

consume dietary

supplement

products

17

50.0%

17.5%

0.0%

22.2%

0.0%

47.4%

57.1%

66.7%

50.0%

35.1%

42.9%

11.1%

0.0% 20.0% 40.0% 60.0% 80.0%

For weight control

For health and well-being

For muscle building

For beauty purposes

Age 33 up

Age 28-32

Age 27 or lower

Figure 1 Frequency of Age and Reasons for dietary supplements consumption

18

Key findings - marketing factors to purchase dietary supplement

products

Table 4.5 Mean scores for 'Products'

Table 4.5 presents the average scores from all the respondents (n=154) who take

dietary supplement products. In term of product, the most important factor for

consumers in this study is ‘have FDA approve’ with the mean 4.77, followed by ‘clear

nutritional information and ingredients’ of 4.65. Attractive packaging is the least

important factor (mean =3.34) that consumers consider.

N Mean

Std.

Deviation

Attractive

packaging

154 3.34 .769

Produce in foreign

countries

154 3.73 .880

Brand name 154 4.17 .782

Clear nutritional

information and

ingredients

154 4.65 .578

Have FDA

approve

154 4.77 .482

19

Table 4.6 Gender differences on 'Product' factors

Mean

Female

Mean

(n=108)

Male Mean

(n=46) t p-value

Have FDA

approve

4.77 4.890 4.480 4.391 .000

Brand name 4.17 4.310 3.830 2.947 .005

Attractive

packaging

3.34 3.430 3.130 2.210 .029

Clear

nutritional

information

and

ingredients

4.65 4.720 4.480 2.095 .040

Produce in

foreign

countries

3.73 3.760 3.650 .690 .491

Table 4.6 shows the first 4 factors of product that are significant between groups of

gender males and females. All of the factors, except ‘produce in foreign countries’

that are significantly different between the mean of genders (females vs. males) and

other key areas by using 5% level of significant and two-tail in testing. Female mean

are higher than male mean in every factors, which indicate females give importance to

these factors more than males do or it could simply because there are more than

female respondents than male respondents.

20

Table 4.7 Mean differences on 'Promotions'

Mean

Female

Mean

(n=108)

Male

Mean

(n=46) t

p-

value

TV commercials

2.90 3.070 2.480 3.381 .001

Favorite celebrities

are the presenters

2.53 2.700 2.130 3.137 .002

Discounts 3.90 4.020 3.610 2.635 .010

Celebrity

endorsements

3.09 3.240 2.740 2.310 .024

Free samples 3.31 3.310 3.300 .054 .957

In term of ‘Promotions’, the respondents place importance on ‘Discounts’ the most

with the mean 3.90, and the least importance in making purchase decision is ‘Favorite

celebrities are the presenters’ (mean =2.53). Celebrity endorsements mean is 3.09 and

it is statistically significance at 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference (p-value

0.024, t=2.310, two-tail). Females place more importance on celebrity endorsements

than males do. This implies that female consumers are persuaded by celebrity

endorsements, if celebrities are the owner or brand ambassador, the female consumers

will be more engaged to purchase a particular brand of dietary supplements.

21

Table 4.8 Occupation x Frequency in purchasing dietary supplements

Most of office workers (37.2 percent) and business owners (50.0 percent) purchase

dietary supplements every 3 months, while other occupations (students, housewives,

freelancers) purchase twice a year for dietary supplement products. The null

hypothesis is rejected as Pearson Chi-square is 29.813; p-value is less than 0.05.

Office

worker

Business

owner

Others

(student,

housewife,

freelancer)

Only once 6 4 0 10

Every months 10 10 0 20

Every 3 months 32 18 10 60

Every 6 months 24 2 12 38

Once a year 14 2 10 26

Total 86 36 32 154

How often do you

purchase dietary

supplement products?

Occupation

Total

22

Table 4.9 Spending x Monthly income

In term of spending and monthly income, consumers with higher income tend to

spend more as shown in the Table 9 above; respondents with monthly income 70,000

baht or higher spend more than 3,001 on average for dietary supplements. Consumers

who have monthly income between 30,000 – 70,000 baht tend to spend around 1,001-

3,000 baht. Not surprisingly, consumers with monthly income 30,000 baht or below

spend average less than 1,000 baht. This relationship is proved to be statistically

significant as Chi-square is 50.058 and p-value is less than 0.05.

Below Table 4.10 presents the data through the use of independent sample t-test to

test whether or not male and female have significantly different attitudes toward

dietary supplement products. There are in total 10 statements that have been asked

using 5 points agreement rating scale, and they include key benefits of dietary

supplements. Most of the findings suggest that there is not much difference in terms

of attitudes toward dietary supplement products between males and females. The

mean scores of each subgroup are no difference. However, there are key aspects that

have been tested to be statistically different as follow.

Dietary supplements help brighten my skin (statement 1st) is perceived differently

from each subgroup in which female respondents is given a higher score of 3.83 point.

The Levene’s Test for Equality of Variances shows F-ratio of 7.377 with p-value less

than 0.05; hence the equal variances not assumed and test statistic is 4.705 with p-

value less than 0.05. The null hypothesis that both groups have same attitudes to

30000 baht

or below 30-50k baht 50-70k baht

70k baht or

higher

Less than 1,000 baht 22 4 2 2 30

1,001-3,000 baht 12 22 22 22 78

3,001 baht or higher 6 8 10 22 46

40 34 34 46 154

Monthly income

Total

On average, how much do

you spend each time for

dietary supplements?

Total

23

‘helps brighten my skin’ is rejected, and it can be concluded that female place

statistically significant higher value on this attribute. Female consumers also place

significant higher mean scores than male consumers by 0.54 point for ‘helps nourish

my hair and nail’ (statement 2nd

), t-statistic is 3.405, p-value less than 0.05. As

expected for ‘helps build my muscle’ aspect (statement 3rd

), the male consumers agree

in this point more than female. Mean difference is -0.572 and is found to be

statistically significant with t-statistic -3.216 and p-value is 0.002. The last statement

indicates dietary supplements ‘is necessary for me’ and female mean scores are higher

than male. This implies that women believe that taking dietary supplements is

necessary for their consumption with the mean difference at 0.362 point; t-statistic is

2.422 and p-value less than 0.05.

24

Table 4.10 Gender differences on attitudes toward dietary supplement product

The data presents below contain eight statements regarding the use of celebrity

endorsements with dietary supplement products, using 5 points agreement rating

scale. The independent sample t-test is used to test whether or not male and female

have significantly different attitudes toward celebrity endorsements using 5% level of

significant in testing. Female customers place greater value, though not significant,

on following aspects such as ‘actor/actress help makes the product more reliable’

(0.200), ‘celebrities posing with products is a good way to reach consumers’ (0.299),

‘actor / actress can indicate the quality of the product’ (0.097), ‘celebrities consume

dietary supplements that they represent’ (0.314), ‘the actor can convey the image of

Dietary supplement

products... Mean

Female

Mean

(n=108)

Male

mean

(n=46) t p-value

Helps brighten my

skin

3.60 3.83 3.04 4.705 .000

Helps nourish my hair

and nail

3.34 3.50 2.96 3.405 .001

Helps build my

muscle

3.34 3.17 3.74 -3.216 .002

Is necessary for me 3.56 3.67 3.30 2.422 .017

Helps me consume all

5 food groups

3.56 3.65 3.35 1.537 .129

Make me brighter and

less fatigue from

work.

3.97 4.04 3.83 1.260 .212

Helps me have a good

health

4.13 4.17 4.04 1.186 .238

Generally not harmful

to my health

4.03 3.98 4.13 -.925 .356

Helps nourish the

brain

3.86 3.89 3.78 .623 .534

Helps lose weights 3.04 3.06 3.00 .292 .771

25

the product’ (0.118), and ‘the more famous the celebrities, the better the products that

they endorse’ (0.370).

There are two key aspects of which the differences between those subgroups are noted

to be statistically significant. The first aspect is the use of celebrities to endorse

products can persuade me to buy the product’ that is given a significantly higher mean

scores by female by 0.407point, t-statistic 2.146 with p-value less than 0.05 based on

95% confidence interval. Second aspect is ‘the use of celebrity endorsements help

making purchase decision easier and faster’, which women consumers place higher

mean scores than men by 0.401 point; t-statistic equals 2.003 and p-value less than

0.05.

26

Table 4.11 Gender differences on attitude toward the use of celebrity endorsements

Mean

Female

Mean

(n=108)

Male

mean

(n=46) t p-value

I think the personality of

the actor can convey the

image of the product.

2.909 2.944 2.826 0.534 0.595

I feel that the use of

celebrities posing with

products is a good way

to reach consumers.

2.818 2.907 2.609 1.595 0.113

I think the actor / actress

help makes the product

more reliable.

2.792 2.852 2.652 0.989 0.324

I feel that the use of

celebrities to endorse

products can persuade

me to buy the product.

2.416 2.537 2.130 2.146 0.033

I believe that the actor /

actress can indicate the

quality of the product.

2.416 2.444 2.348 0.570 0.570

I believe celebrities

consume dietary

supplements that they

represent.

2.351 2.444 2.130 1.761 0.080

The use of celebrity

endorsements helps

making purchase

decision easier and

faster.

2.325 2.444 2.043 2.003 0.047

I believe the more

famous the celebrities,

the better the products

that they endorse.

2.260 2.370 2.000 1.971 0.051

27

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The research from this study will help dietary supplement companies and health care

services to better understand the Thai consumers about their lifestyles which could be

reflected into their insights in consuming dietary supplements vitamins. Health and

wellness industry has play a major role in driving the Thai economy and yet the

marketing communication in promoting the beauty dietary supplements. The

increasing in health and wellness trend opens a huge opportunity for dietary

supplement companies to meet the rising in demand for this market. However, there

are still people who perceive that dietary supplement products are unnecessary and

waste of money. It is the marketing manager to educate the consumers how dietary

supplement products could benefit the consumers by giving nutritional information

and explaining what are they and how they help consumers. Today, dietary

supplements do not only balance the diet but also need to cover all other benefits such

as skin and weight purposes. In this study, it shows how Thai consumers perceive,

think, and feel toward dietary supplements as well as the behavior of current

consumers include frequency and spending of his/her purchase. Moreover, the study

comprises of the use in celebrity endorsements in dietary supplement markets.

The study has revealed that the largest proportions of consumers take dietary

supplement to boost their health. However, there are also other reasons which are

weight control, beauty purposes, and build muscles. To target female consumers,

besides from maintain and improve health, they also looking for supplement products

that benefit their beauties such as skin whitening and brightening and weight control.

Women are the heavy buyer, which implies that consumers are health conscious and

care for their appearance. While to target male consumers, majority of them are

consuming because of health purpose and muscle building. The research also found

that consumers made his/her own decision in selecting the product and put more

importance on the quality as well as the brand name and nutritional information

provide on the packaging. This indicates that it is vital for dietary supplement

manufacturers to pay attention to the information of the products and the brands have

28

influence in making purchase decision. To stimulate sales, the study also suggests

that discounts, free sample, and celebrity endorsements are the strategies that

companies should consider. It is recommended to utilize the promotion strategies in

chain drugstores such as Watsons and Boots as most of consumers purchase products

from these places. The consumers are looking for products that should make them

feel healthy and help them feel fresh and less exhausted. While the beauty aid dietary

supplements for skin brightening and weight control are the next phrase of market that

should be focusing on.

The findings shows that celebrity endorsement strategy is somewhat important

factor in purchasing decision and there is no significant different between males and

females. However, both of male and female consumers agree that the characteristic

and personality of the actors can convey the image of product thus the companies

have to be carefully in selecting the brand ambassador. The person’s image needs to

match and fit with the product in order to target the right market.

29

REFERENCES

1. Aaker, D. (2011). Marketing research (10.th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

2. Asia Pacific Ripe for Health and Wellness Market. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8,

2015, from http://www.nutritionaloutlook.com/141009/Asia

3. Bangkokpost, “The Thai health and wellness industry goes from strength to

strength”. (2012, March 13). http://www.bangkokpost.com/print/284116/

(Accessed: November,2014)

4. Blendon, R., Benson, J., Botta, M., & Weldon, K. (2013). Users' Views of

Dietary Supplements. JAMA Internal Medicine, 74-74.

5. Breaking Boundaries: The International Market for Dietary Supplements.

(n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2015, from

http://www.nutritionaloutlook.com/141008/International

6. Dietary supplement, billions business that both small and big players are

competing to expand market in AEC. (2012, November 8). Retrieved

November 15, 2014, from

http://www.manager.co.th/iBizchannel/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=955000013

6198

7. Dietary supplement users vary in attitudes and sources of dietary supplement

information in East and West geographic regions: A cross-sectional study.

(n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2015, from http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-

6882/13/200#sec5

8. Marketeers need to adjust to catch 8 new trends of Thai health. (2013, January

25). Retrieved November 18, 2014, from

http://www.hfocus.org/content/2013/01/2233

9. Newswire. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2015, from

http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2009/north-america-asia-lead-

vitamin-and-supplement-usage.html

10. Nipaporn Rungsawang. (2008). Attitude and Consumer Behavior Trend

towards Purchasing Decision on Food Product plus Collagen. Master’s

Project, M.B.A. (Management). Bangkok: Graduate School, Srinakharinwirot

University. Project Advisor: Assoc. Prof. Supada Sirikudta

30

11. O'dea, J. (2002). Consumption of nutritional supplements among adolescents:

Usage and perceived benefits. Health Education Research, 98-107.

12. Pisitsungkagarn, K., Taephant, N., & Attasaranya, P. (2013). Body image

satisfaction and self-esteem in Thai female adolescents: The moderating role

of self-compassion. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health,

1-6.

13. Seitz, V., Razzouk, N., & Eamsobhan, S. (2006). Celebrity Endorsements in

U.S. and Thai Magazines: A Content Analysis Comparative Assessment.

Journal of Promotion Management, 383-398.

14. Siamturakijnews, “Thai FDA warn consumers glutathione is dangerous and

deadliness, don’t be naïve by the advertisement” (in Thai), 2012, https://th-

th.facebook.com/notes/371923022856437/ (Accessed: November, 2014).

15. SPSS. (n.d.). Retrieved April 5, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPSS

16. Thailand's largest wellness and beauty convention coming soon. (2014, July

25). Retrieved November 18, 2014, from

http://www.thephuketnews.com/thailands-largest-wellness-and-beauty-

convention-coming-soon-47536.php

17. Thongtep, W. (2011, September 14). Food producers told of health trend.

Retrieved November 18, 2014, from

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Food-producers-told-of-health-

trend-30165211.html

18. Wai, M. (2009, October 1). Focus on Health Supplement Regulations: Market

Entry Into Thailand. Retrieved March 10, 2015, from

http://newhope360.com/regulatory/focus-health-supplement-regulations-

market-entry-thailand

19. Who takes dietary supplements, and why? (2013, February 14). Retrieved

March 11, 2015, from https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/who-takes-

dietary-supplements-and-why/

20. Wilailuck, “Trends and challenges of dietary supplement product industry in

Thailand” (in Thai), 2013, http://nstda.or.th/blog/?p=24262 (Accessed:

November, 2014).

31

APPENDIX

SURVEY QUESTIONAIRE

THE EXAMINATION OF THAI CONSUMERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS

DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS PRODUCTS AND HOW THE USE OF CELEBRITY

ENDORSEMENTS HAS IMPACTS ON THAI CONSUMERS.

This questionnaire is used for examining the consumer attitudes on dietary

supplement products and how the uses of celebrity endorsements have influence on

purchase decision. This questionnaire is part of an independent study for the degree of

Master of Science program in marketing (international program) faculty of commerce

and accountancy at Thammasat University.

All of the information collected with high confidential and used for the academic

research only. Please complete all questions by mark in the space given below in the

following questions.

Part I: Screening Questions

1 Do you currently taking any dietary supplement products?

Yes

No

2 How long have you been taking dietary supplement products?

less than 6 months

6 months-1 year

more than 1 year

3 What is your reason for not taking dietary supplement products?

It's not necessary because I already consume complete 5 nutrition groups

It's not safe to my health

It's waste of money

It's useless

I don't like to consume

Others

Part II : General behaviour of dietary supplements consumption and key factor

in consuming dietary supplements

4 What is your reason to consume dietary supplement products?

For weight control

For health

For muscle building

For beauty purposes (skin)

Others

32

5 How often do you purchase dietary supplement products?

Just only once

Every month

Every 3 months

Every 6 months

One time a year

Nevery buy

6 Where do you usually purchase dietary supplement products?

Traditional drugstores

Chain drugstores (Boots, Watsons, P&F…)

Beauty clinics

Internet

Social network (IG, FB)

Direct sales

Others

7

On average, how much do you spend each time for dietary supplement

products?

less than 1,000 baht

1,001-3,000 baht

3,001-6,000 baht

6,001-9,000 baht

more than 9,000 baht

8

Who is involved when making purchase decision on dietary supplement

products

Myself

Doctors/Pharmacists

Family/Relatives

Celebrities

Friends

33

Part III: Factors influence consumers’ intentions in selecting beauty dietary

supplements (in terms of 4Ps)

9 Please evaluate the following factors that have influences on purchase decision

on dietary supplement products. (5= very important factor, 1=not important).

Product/ผลติภณัฑ์

Price/ราคา

Very

Important

Important

So-So

Less

important

Not

Important

Competitive

price when

compared to

other brands

5

5

4

4

3

3

2

2

1

1

Competitive

price when

compared to

quality

5

5

5

4

4

3

3

2

2

1

1

Competitive

price when

compared to

quantity

5

5

4

4

3

3

2

2

1

1

Very

Important

Important

So-So

Less

important

Not

Important

Brand name 5

5

4

4

3

3

2

2

1

1

Package looks

interesting

5

5

4

4

3

3

2

2

1

1

Clear nutritional

information and

ingredients

5

5

4

4

4

3

3

2

2

1

1

Have FDA

approve and

other

certificates

5

5

4

4

3

3

2

2

1

1

1

Products are

made by foreign

countries

5

5

4

4

3

3

2

2

1

1

34

Place (Distribution)/สถานที่ในการซ้ือ (refers to the channel that influence my purchase

decision)

Very

Important

Important

So-So

Less

important

Not

Important

Direct sales

5

5

4

4

3

3

2

2

1

1

Social network

(IG, FB)

5

5

4

4

3

3

2

2

1

1

Online stores

5

5

4

3

3

2

2

1

Beauty clinics

5

5

4

4

3

3

2

2

1

1

Chain drugstores

(Watsons, Boots,

P&F…)

5

5

4

4

3

3

2

2

1

1

Promotion/โปรโมช่ัน

Very

Important

Important

So-So

Less

important

Not

Important

Discounts 5

5

4

4

3

3

2

2

1

1

Advertising on

TV commercial

5

5

4

4

3

2

2

1

1

Celebrity

endorsements on

social media

5

5

4

4

3

3

2

2

2

1

1

Favorite

celebrities are the

presenters

5

5

4

4

3

3

3

2

2

1

1

Free samples 5

5

4

4

3

3

2

2

1

1

35

Part IV: Perception toward dietary supplement products

10 Please indicate your opinion about dietary supplement products.

Statements

Strongly

agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly

disagree

Dietary supplement

products make me have

good health.

5

5

5

4

4

4

3

3

3

2

2

2

1

1

1

Dietary supplement

products are necessary

for me.

5

5

5

4

5

4

3

3

3

2

2

2

1

1

1

Dietary supplement

products help my skin

looks brighter.

5

5

4

5

4

3

3

3

2

2

2

1

1

Dietary supplement

products help me

consume all 5 food

groups.

5

5

4

4

4

3

3

2

2

2

1

1

Taking dietary

supplements help

building the muscle that

I want.

5

5

4

4

4

3

3

3

2

2

2

1

1

Dietary supplements are

generally harmless.

5

5

4

4

3

3

2

2

1

1

Taking dietary

supplement products

help my nails and hair

stronger and better.

5

5

4

4

4

3

3

3

2

2

2

1

1

Taking dietary

supplement products

help manage and control

my weights.

5

5

5

4

4

4

3

3

3

2

2

2

1

1

Taking dietary

supplement products

help nourish my brain.

5

5

5

4

4

4

3

3

2

2

2

1

1

Taking dietary

supplement products

help me fresher and less

fatigue from work.

5

5

5

4

4

4

3

3

2

2

2

1

1

1

36

Part V: Perception and attitude toward marketing activities that used to

promote and advertise the products

10 Please indicate your opinion about the use of celebrity endorsements.

Statements

Strongly

agree

A

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly

disagree

I believe celebrities

consume dietary

supplement products that

they represent.

5

4

4

3

2

1

I believe that the actor /

actress can indicate the

quality of the product.

5

4

4

3

2

1

I feel that the use of

celebrities to endorse

products can attract me

to buy the product.

5

4

4

3

2

1

The use of celebrity

endorsements help

making purchase

decision easier and faster

5

5

4

3

2

1

I believe the more

famous the celebrities,

the better the products

they endorse.

5

4

4

3

2

1

I think the personality of

the actor can convey the

image of the product.

5

4

4

3

2

1

I feel that the use of

celebrities posing with

products is a good way

to reach consumers.

5

4

4

3

2

1

I think the actor / actress

help makes the product

more reliable

5

4

4

3

2

1

37

Part VI: Demographic profile

10 Gender Male Female

11 Status Single Married Divorced

12 Age Age 18-22 Age 23-27

Age 28-32 Age 36-older

13 Monthly incomes THB 15,000 or less THB 15,001-20,000

THB 20,001-25,000 THB 25,001-30,000

THB 30,001 or more

14 Educations Primary school Secondary school

Diploma/certificates Bachelor degree

Master degree or higher

15 Occupations

Students Temp/Per-diem

Employed full time Self-employed

Unemployed Housewife

Government officer Part-time

State enterprise employee

38

BIOGRAPHY

Name Miss Surisa Khajohnveeraphan

Date of Birth November 28, 1985

Educational Attainment

Bachelor of Business Administration majoring in

Finance and Banking, minoring in International

Business Management

Assumption University of Thailand